HAVE three or more, if you can afford it.

So said the Government back in the early 1990s. Being loyal citizens, the wife and I duly obliged.

We had a lot of pleasure in having, and watching, our four lovely children grow up.

Honestly, we did not have four children because we calculated that we could afford them.

That thought never really crossed our minds.We were more concerned with balancing the family.

Our first two were boys, so we felt that they needed a sister to provide the feminine touch.

And, when we were blessed with a girl next, we felt that the sister needed a sister to play with. And once again we were blessed.

To date, it has been a joy watching the four of them growing up. Our instincts, overall, have been quite right; the boys do treat the girls differently from the way they play with each other.

And the sisters do make a happy pair when they are together.

But what the Government did not tell us, and what we completely forgot to factor in, was that when these kids grow up and enter secondary school, there would be some real problems.

Especially during the school holidays. Planning for a trip, even to Desaru, can be a real problem.

It has now been more than a month into the holidays and I am still not too sure when I can take my leave.

No, my employer is not to blame.

Rather, my kids’ schools should bear some of that responsibility. For there is not a single week we can find when all four kids would be available for a family holiday.

Schedules not lightening up

First, the elder boy, who will be going to junior college next year, has a separate training programme for hockey from his brother, who is still in secondary school.

Then when the elder boy had a break, the younger one was away on a school trip to Thailand for 10 days.

When he returned, and both had a week off training, their sister had to attend a school netball training camp for three days.

She subsequently had some days off but the boys had to resume their training schedules.

It has been like that since. And the schedules are not lightening up. Having been a school hockey coach before, I do empathise with their coaches. The schools’ competitions are such that they require year-round training sessions to put out a credible team.And having demanded that 100 per cent commitment from my students before, I feel it is not right to ask my children now to skip their training.

Now, with about three weeks of the school holidays left, we are getting rather desperate.

And if the kids’ coaches do not buy our assurance that we will carry out their training programmes on their behalf while on holiday overseas, I’m afraid there may be no trip for the family this year.

And, perhaps, for some years to come.

Maybe that is what “can afford it” means.

That you don’t have to spend money on holidays if you have more kids, for their schedules will not allow it.

This article was first published in The New Paper.