When Summer Break Breaks You: The Emotional Cost of Holding It All Together

Pammy Gaskin
Jul 25
2 min read

There’s a moment every working mum knows.

It’s not the school gates closing or the team call pinging. It’s that quiet, sharp inhale — the one you take when you realise…

“I have six weeks to juggle childcare, meetings, deadlines, summer guilt, and my own burnout.”

The six-week summer holidays are painted as a dreamy stretch of sunshine and slow mornings. But for working professional mums, they often represent something very different:

Scrambling for overpriced childcare
Using every last drop of annual leave just to get by
Feeling like you’re failing at work and motherhood
Carrying invisible emotional labour no one sees — but everyone benefits from

And all of this? It often goes unseen. Unspoken. Muted.

The Myth of “Managing It All”

We’re told to “manage our emotions,” “stay productive,” and “enjoy the kids while they’re young” — as though all three can coexist peacefully inside a tired body with a stretched schedule.

Let’s be honest: Many of us are barely managing ourselves, let alone our emotions.

And that’s not a sign of failure. It’s a sign that your nervous system is carrying too much. It’s a signal — not a weakness — that your emotional bandwidth is maxed out.

What If This Summer, You Didn’t Push It Down?

This August, I’m holding space for a different kind of conversation.

Unmute Your Emotions: A Workshop for Women Who Hold Too Much A gentle but powerful online session to help you:

Release emotional tension you didn’t realise you were carrying
Understand what your emotions are trying to tell you
Reclaim your calm — not through control, but through compassion

This is your permission slip to pause, exhale, and feel — before the next round begins.

📅 Workshop 26th August 1pm:

Join here 👉 www.seasoulmindfulness.com/workshop

And When You’re Ready to Go Deeper…

This work doesn’t end in summer. If you’re craving a deeper shift — not just a break, but a rebirth — then let me introduce you to something powerful:

Align & Arise: The Emotional Mastery Journey

A 6-Week Pathway to Nervous System Regulation, Emotional Resilience & Grounded Empowerment Begins September 7, 2025 — Full Moon in Pisces

You don’t need to manage your emotions. You need to understand them.

If you’re feeling emotionally overstretched, depleted, or like you’re constantly reacting rather than responding — this journey is for you.

This is not another mindset course. It’s a somatic, soul-rooted pathway to: