My brain is fried, my bones are cold, I have the snuffles and my entire body is longing for warmth.

Finally, the day has come to jump on a plane and fly far, far away. It may only be for one week, but the thought of this break has kept me firing since we booked it in the Boxing Day sales in December.

As we pack the suitcases with great excitement, I ask my boys how much spending money they have saved.

Both have had birthdays, where Poppy always slips a 20 into their cards and they can earn extra by washing the cars ... if they empty the washing machine and there are loose coins in the bottom, the 'finders keepers' rule applies.

Both look at me blankly. Racing into their bedrooms, they return in just a few minutes with a less than a handful of five and 10 cent pieces.

Between them both, there is only 80 cents.

It appears these two have spent all their money on treats at the local corner shop, and now the holiday is looking rather gloomy.

They ask me how much spending money I have.

So, I sit down on the edge of the bed and ask them if they can remember when they wanted take out every single day of the first week of school holidays. They sure do because I said no every single day and now I have that money to take on my holiday.

Then I asked them if they could remember why daddy hadn't been at a couple of their soccer and footy matches in the past few months. He had been working so he could take time off work and have some spending money.

They began to realise that to have wonderful things in your life like a holiday, you had to work hard and perhaps miss out on a few things, so you could have a little bit extra.

Twenty four hours before our plane is due to leave and they are working like little slaves. Floors have been mopped, dogs have been brushed, pots and pans shelves sorted and wiped out.

They are now fighting over who gets the clothes out of the washing machine, the dishwasher is emptied the moment the buzzer goes off, and there is not one dog poo anywhere in our yard.

By the time we jump on the plane, they will have five dollars each in their wallets and the 80 cents divided up between them.

Who knows what they will be able to buy with that amount but whatever it is, I know they will love spending the money they worked hard for.

There is such a sense of pride in knowing they had to work hard to get that cash.

Next time they might consider starting their money-making campaign a little earlier.