My husband is the summer holiday Grinch. As the weather improves, talk has turned to summer holidays ; plans for when the schools break up and whether people are opting for somewhere far-flung or closer to home. There’s chat among friends, neighbours and colleagues of French campsites and villas in Portugal . Of handy flight times and off-the-beaten-track restaurants and cafés.

Not in my house, however. My husband makes a face or groans if I even attempt to discuss summer plans. He has zero interest in what anyone else might be doing, and I have never heard him say, “Ooh, I’d love to go there.” Clearly, for him, the prospect of a summer break is torture. I honestly think my husband would be happy staying at home all summer, but I don’t think that’s fair on our children – or on me.

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