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We know that you can have kids and still be a hip chick and this section is just for you. Look out for holiday news, child friendly books, films and lots of ideas on how to keep your little ones happy.
| Holidays with children - leaving your comfort zone |
Ten steps to planning a successful holiday. 1. Consider Bunking Up. Holidaying with another family, or even your parents, can open new horizons. Rebecca, Mother of Jack 7, and Jeremy, 8, admits that her latest holiday to Lanzarote with her father in law was one if the best she’s ever had since having children. “My father-in-law was very respectful of our own space, and we enjoyed his company. He was happy to baby-sit, and give my husband and I some time alone, and of course, the boys loved it.” Sharing with another family means sharing costs, chores and cooking, and children get so much out of a holiday with their friends. 1. Value Simplicity. Julie, and Jed, parents of Frances, 6, and Matthew, 4, have spent the last three years holidaying in a cottage on the South Coast. “While friends are jetting off to expensive places and coming back frazzled full of tales of nightmare plane journeys, both our children actively yearn for the comfort of revisiting a place they love and associate with summer. All they need is their patch of beach, an ice cream and our full attention and they are on holiday. 3. Rethink your expectations. Are you expecting too much from your two weeks in the sun? A fortnight alone is never going to rekindle your love-life, fulfill that need for adventure, appeal to your partner’s search for of culture and keep the children happy. Instead, consider breaking those two weeks up into a couple of five day breaks and two or three long weekends away. That way you can have a totally child orientated break such as a few days at Centre Parks, and then follow it up a few months later with a semi-romantic stay in some rural cottage in deepest darkest Devon where you can go on long walks, put the tired-out kids to bed early and stay up with some good wine and bad intentions. 4. Take more time than you need. If possible adding a day either end to your holiday means that you get a chance to unwind a little before you cope with airports or a long drive, and time at the other end to recover. Harriet, a mother of 2, swears by it, “Yes, it does eat into the holiday allowance, but I find it makes the holiday seem much longer, and incredibly more relaxing than just rushing back to work.....even if you do spend the day just feeding the washing machine.” 5. What’s important? It’s so tempting to take tons of clothes for every emergency (“just in case they have that heat wave in March, we might be lucky”). But clothes can be washed, or even worn slightly dirty. The real must-haves are those items that keep the kids quiet in the car, on a rainy day, or while you are trying to get a much needed lie in. Peter, father of Justin, 9, always smuggles away his work laptop so that he and Justin can play computer games, or Justin can watch DVDs during the long drive down to the South Western part of France they usually visit. 6. Make it a real family holiday. Yes, your son might want to join those new friends he made at the volley ball court, and the first thing your daughter says in the morning is “When can I go to kids club?” but making the holiday belong to the family as a whole is important. Janice, a mother of three boys, 9, 7 and 5, insists they make a family scrap book each holiday. “At first they complain about it, but as the holiday goes on it’s quite a competition to see who comes up with interesting things to put in it. We’ve included everything from theme park entrance tickets to dried seaweed to hand drawn cartoons made on a rainy day. We’ve kept all our books and re-reading them really brings the holiday back to life.” In contrast, Terence enjoys making little video films with his two boys, 11 and 10. “It’s just silly stuff really, but it’s the sort of fun thing we never get time for at home.” 7. Insist on your time. Being strict about having your rest and recuperation time from the very beginning is essential if you want any time to yourself. Katherine, mother of eleven year old twin daughters, insists they always come back to their holiday house for a siesta and while the parents hit the bedroom (“and it is for a sleep, believe me” she laughs) the girls have to amuse themselves for an hour. “In fact, it really works for them too. We’ve often gone in and found them asleep on the sofa. If not, they’ve certainly appreciated their enforced relaxation. Now, it’s just part of the routine of our holiday.” 8. Remember, it’s just a different location. Your children are going to be the same people they are at home. Expecting a moaner or a child that’s a handful at home to suddenly be transformed is unrealistic. In fact, with the temporary change in location and circumstances, the behaviour of some children can even become worse. Be prepared, and take it in your stride. 9. Encourage the whole experience. “Taking your kids to France and allowing them to eat nothing else but French fries and buttered baguette is so sad, but I’ve seen it many times” says Francophile Roberta, mother of two girls, 9 and 3. Relish the whole sensory experience by encouraging them to try the local food, get up early to watch the fishermen come in with their catch, and smell the different types of trees as you walk through the forest. 10. Tell the world. If you do find that wonderful villa that’s just a stone’s throw away from the beach, or the great restaurant where they whip your children away to play games while you finish off your romantic tete-a-tete, make a note of it and tell other people. That’s what we want our chicklit kids page to do: to spread the word and tell other parents about must-see places, airlines or companies that are particularly helpful and places both you and the children will adore. Back to more articles |
| Posted: 01/04/2005 20:32:44 Last Updated: 25/04/2005 19:56:49 |
Chick Lit > Chick Lit Kids :: Holidays with children - leaving your comfort zone