Holidaying with kids. Some trips, ok most trips, it’s more like your exact life at home, but in a non-familiar place and without the comforts of your life. Kids don’t seem to care that you have spent a squillion dollars to try and have a break. Let’s face it. You are in no way going to get a ‘rest’ so that you can enjoy your holiday like you did BC (before children). But some trips, despite the tough times, bring your family together to reconnect and make memories for a lifetime. And it makes all of the frustration worth it!
The thing is, most of us wish we had more holidays. I don’t know anyone that wishes they had less. Unfortunately for 99 per cent of people reading this article, it takes many months, if not years, of saving for that trip of the year, or better, the trip of a lifetime that’s on your bucket list.
When I was fourteen, I saved up all my money from working in a café to go on the annual school trip to New Zealand. It was my first time on a plane, and it was amazing, and I certainly caught the travel bug. Neither of my parents travelled much, probably because it was so expensive in the eighties. Our trips were always in the car with us kids vomiting in the back seat like a chain reaction. We’d drive for days and sleep in the car to save money. I don’t know how my parents travelled with kids without iPads and air-conditioned comfort like our kids have these days. Probably explains why most of our parents are cray cray!
So, if you are about to travel with kids this January here are my three best tips:
- Don’t give your child Phenergan for the first time on holiday. When my eldest was a toddler, it had the opposite reaction and turned him into an angry, biting machine that couldn’t sit still. Breastfeeding was over in that moment.
- Do not travel without spare clothes with you at all times. My youngest son has fallen in more shallow ponds, had explosive undies or ended up in some sort of incident where he has required a whole new outfit and shoes more times than I’d like to count. Be prepared, even for yourself.
- Check your plane tickets before you leave the counter. We were flying once with master 3-year-old, and they put the three of us in separate seats on the plane. As much as I would have loved some stranger to look after my child, see point one, he was still coming down from the Phenergan, so it wasn’t going to end well.
As tough as these times were at the time, I wouldn’t change them. They are certainly the things that we laugh about now, even the time we went through a customs screening seven times due to a runaway toddler. I sure bought one of those kiddy leads after that trip, let me tell you!
So, whether it’s camping at the dam, an overnight trip an hour away or a trip overseas, holidays and weekends away are what make the best family memories. Sure, I’ve got a second job to pay for our trips, and I make sacrifices on purchasing things unless they are a need, not a want, and we rarely go out for dinner, but that’s what us parents do, right? Sacrifice nearly every day to give our families the best life we can give them, and that’s what counts. I’d love to hear your travel horror stories, so feel free to share them with me!
