August 19: When you can’t afford what everyone else is doing
This month is an invitation to challenge our way of thinking. Let’s Talk Honestly About the realities of family life during the summer holidays.
Throughout this week, we’ve explored the financial pressures that can sit beneath the summer holidays, from the rising cost of childcare, food and activities to the expectation that families should fill six weeks with exciting experiences.
But sometimes, the hardest part of financial pressure is seeing what everyone else appears to be doing.
A child may come home talking about a friend’s holiday, an expensive day out or an activity that your family cannot manage. Social media may be filled with photographs of beaches, attractions and family adventures, making it seem as though everyone else is enjoying a summer that is more exciting, more memorable or somehow more successful than your own.
Even when we know we are only seeing part of the picture, comparison can still leave us questioning whether we are doing enough.
Today’s blog explores the emotional weight of comparing our family life with other people’s, while recognising that financial inequality is real and that not every family has access to the same opportunities. It is not about pretending that differences do not matter or telling parents to simply stop comparing. Instead, it is about letting go of the belief that another family’s circumstances should become the measure of our own worth.
Read more on Cultural Calendar Club…
🔔 coming up on The Work Edit:
Rats, carrots and sport!
coming up on Cultural Calendar Club
12 Months of live, inspiring, entertaining talks events, made financially accessible for all organisations
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World Suicide Prevention Day: A Practical Guide To Better Conversations of Care
Friday 11 September 2026
12:00 13:00
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Dave will address the challenges that we all face around mental health conversation. Providing tools and tips to overcome the things that ‘get in our way’ to create genuine cultures of care for you, your workspace and your wider friends and family.