Packing it all in!

Recently I’ve felt like I was hurtling through the last few weeks of term at warp speed. My family has navigated reports and reviews, parent meetings and ballet shows and thank yous and tears (the proud, happy type!!!). And we’re all exhausted! But it’s all about to come to a grinding halt and thankfully I can switch off that 7am alarm and we can walk around in our PJs until lunch (well except Daddy, his boss takes a dim view of that sort of behaviour in the office…). 

 

Time to re-think your holiday wardrobe...

 

And finally, we can look forward to the summer holidays – with exciting overseas trips planned, time scheduled in at the grandparents and a good old fashioned Cornish seaside holiday with boogie boards and rock pools to enjoy. But alongside my joyful anticipation of all the sight-seeing and sand between my toes, lurks a terrifying spectre. And one that I fear I must face alone. PACKING! Yes, that time when suddenly Mummy must anticipate every need her children will have and every request they will make in the space of a week, and accommodate all those by simply packing a suitcase.

Travelling in style
 

For many years, one of our family’s favourite holiday accessories was the Trunki. With our youngest contained in her pushchair, our elder daughter could pull along her belongings and still hop on for a ride when her little legs got tired. Unfortunately the Trunki will not be coming with us on our next trip because it cannot accommodate the much-loved bear-sized suitcase seat from Build-a-Bear. Both my girls will now be using their far less resilient wheelie suitcases, just so their favourite soft toy can come along for the trip. I’ll even be asking the security staff to stamp the ‘pawsport’ one owns… (cringe).

Have teddy, will travel.

 

Other great toys to take along on a trip, where suitcase space is precious but bored kids could turn travelling into a nightmare include good old fashioned card games like ‘Go Fish’ or word games like Bananagrams. Sticker and activity books are great too – and can be bought cheaply on the high street before you go. One of the best ideas I’ve seen lately is this lovely book of Eggnogg colour-in postcards that children can complete in holiday downtime. Paper doll books also work well for my girls – with the most beautiful coming from Belle & Boo (which also provides extra clothes downloadable free on its website). If you are really pressed for space, this teeny colouring set might also be a perfect fit! And finally, Pass The Bomb proved to be highly entertaining for girls and boys on a recent camping trip.

Belle & Boo Large Dress Up Belle

 

Lost?

Being a bit of a Penelope-Panic-Pants, I do worry about losing a child on our upcoming city break to Paris. My anxiety might be slightly heighted by the fact that last time we visited the Pompidou Centre, my eldest got into a lift while hubby and I were elbowed out of the way by a confused-looking gallery goer (rude!). Rather disturbingly the doors closed before we could get in and she was whisked away – all I could hear was an anguished ‘Mumeeeeeeeeeeee!!!’ drifting down the lift shaft. Thankfully the lift only went up and down between the two floors of this particular gallery and I was able to run down the nearby stairs at full pelt (pushing arty types out the way as I did so) and press the ‘door open’ button to find my poor child still inside the lift, sadly sat crouched down on the floor awaiting rescue. Not an experience I want to repeat!!

So along with my passport, I will be packing some ID bracelets for my girls. If you want something to cover every eventuality and a solution that will last, check out OneLife iD. The bracelets come in varying sizes and styles, and use QR codes or webpage links to connect the bracelet to all the details, contacts, documents and links recorded on a OneLife iD profile page. Several of the products allow you to engrave additional medical (like allergies) or contact information too. 

Never lose your child (again in my case...) with the OneLife iD products.

For a more temporary solution, you might want to stock up on some tattoos that allow you to write on a mobile number, you can get a whole range of colours or ones with pirates and ladybirds. Alternatively you could just use beads with numbers on and make your child a bracelet with the number to call if they get lost.

Kids of today

Oh technology, how it has developed since I was a child sitting, unstrapped in just the normal rear car seat of a Datsun as we navigated the ‘A’ road that led us out of Kent!! Those were the days of poor suspension and scratchy wool blankets that meant many a motion-sickened child would weakly enquire ‘are we there yet?’ Well parents today are lucky I tell you! Not only can you take along your tablet as you travel, you can fill it with apps that do everything from keeping up your phonics and number work over the holidays to serving as handy reminder for the signs and symptoms of meningitis. The Barefoot Books Atlas app recently picked up the top award from Junior Magazine for both its educational content and sheer interactive enjoyment – ideal for teaching as you travel this summer.

And if you can wait until the end of this month before assembling your dream team of holiday essentials, the new animated WOW PACKS will be released onto the market. These are eye-catching animated backpacks with a remote control that operates the eyes, nose and eyelashes. Available in the girlie pink Cutezee the Kitty style or the rather revolting green Snot the Zombie, you can be assured the resulting funny faces and sound effects created will keep your little ones amused on tedious journeys and longer-than-expected walks and waits. 

An interactive backpack buddy called 'Snot' - who wouldn't want one????

BUT – have I forgotten anything? What do you always take – and is there a travel item that has got you out of a kiddie-sized pickle? Let me know in the comment box below, there’s still (a little) room in my suitcase…

We’ll always have Paris

It’s safe to say that hubby and I did not enjoy our first holiday as parents. We booked a ‘cottage’ for two weeks in Wales (you can see we weren’t thinking straight) when our first daughter was just shy of six months. What fools!

We packed our car like we were moving house. We took a travel cot and all madam’s usual bedding including a lovely soft cot mattress, a high chair (not a travel one mind but our large leather one from home despite the fact there was one in situ), a pushchair, the baby carrier, dummies, tons of toys and books, nappies, wipes, plenty of kiddie clothes to cover every eventuality – and yes, the teeny tiny baby herself.

All aboard the holiday express!!

In fact I was so overwhelmed by packing to meet the imagined needs of my offspring that when it came to gathering my things, I sort of zoned out. I headed up to Wales – yes Wales - with a pair of flip flops, my trainers, a few t-shirts, shorts and a pretty dress in case we went out (ha, ha, ha!!). Note the lack of outer garments.

But despite there being a heat wave in the UK (which we could conveniently observe by watching Royal Ascot on the telly); Wales was cold, so cold. I had to buy not just a jumper, but a hat, scarf and gloves since we were actually rather close to this mountain called Snowden (you may have heard of it, I understand it is quite well known). I refused to buy a coat only because it was summer for crying out loud.

Pack your bags

And crying out loud was another charming feature of the holiday. Our daughter just would not sleep in this unfamiliar environment. All night, every night she screamed. While I was used to not sleeping by then, and pretty much since then, the husband had never had it so bad. After a week of the torture we were broken people and begun to discuss cutting our losses and going home. We would still have a week together, at home, in the sun, with the chance of some sleep, we reasoned. It sounded good.

In the end we decided to stick it out. And fortunately for us, the weather improved and the baby settled down a bit. We were able to have some good days out – memorably at Conwy Castle. We also found a kiddie friendly café to eat cakes in. Oh, cakes, my friends in times of need.

Looking back it was a steep learning curve. I’ve certainly never packed as much stuff again – and now I drive a Mini I can get everything myself and the two girls need for an entire week into it and still have leg room. We also know to hang the expense and get more than one bedroom – at least one of you needs to survive until the morning. I also tend to pay a bit more attention to the area I’m visiting if I’ve not been there before. Never again will I find myself navigating thick fog while dressed for the beach.

Plenty to do

One far more successful holiday was a trip to Paris when the baby had somehow morphed into a pre-schooler and was now accompanied by a two-year-old partner in crime. For a city it is incredibly child friendly – with loads of indoor and outdoor attractions. Apparently this is because there are lots of working families in Paris, but typically those families live in apartment blocks with little or no garden space of their own. Consequently the government does a very good job of providing such facilities both during the working week and weekends. And it is of course also home to something even more important to two little girlie girls – Disneyland Paris.

Look! - Tigger is breakdancing outside Sleeping Beauty's castle...

So we have just booked another week in the City of Love. We’ll take the Eurostar and navigate our way to our apartment in the Latin Quarter. And if we can’t carry our luggage easily or pull it along – it’ll be left at home. In the mornings the kids and hubby will head out to buy pain au chocolates, by lunchtime Daddy will be sampling du vin, and by dinner Mummy could well be sporting Minnie Mouse ears. Sparkly is best.

Chocolate for breakfast!

We plan to sail toy boats in the Jardin du Luxembourg pond, get interactive at the Cite des enfants, check out the Eiffel Tower, La Louvre and the Pompidou Centre (minus the child-lost-in- the-lift situation we experienced last time maybe). We’ll eat macaroons at La Laduree and browse in Bon Ton and maybe get a book in Shakespeare and Company. Good times. And I’ll be sure to pack a jacket – in case of freak weather.

Climbing on the culture

And of course we will go to Disneyland Paris because it is amazing and there are real princesses to talk to and you get to ride on a magic carpet and fly in an elephant and go on a boat where little dolls sing ‘it’s a small, small world' endlessly and then there’s a parade and you can see all the princesses again and boo at the baddies…

Hopefully the girls will enjoy it just as much as I will!!!

Sail away with me

 

Do you have any holiday disasters to share – or any advice to avoid them (I probably need it…)? Let me know in the comment box below!