The madness of the Christmas holidays is over for another year and the New Year has charged onwards, bright with possibilities.
Santa did his thing, the Elf on the Shelf miraculously disappeared back to the North Pole, and the over-excited daughter got stuck beside Grandma for Christmas Eve Mass and was on her very best behaviour.
We moved states and relocated back to our home in Melbourne. We grabbed this chance to ‘coast down the coast’ and the romance of discovering new towns and taking some much needed time out seemed glorious. But of course, two kids in a car for long stretches at a time, along with packing everything up after each stop and cramming back in the car was a little more ‘challenging’ perhaps than anticipated.
So here are some things I know you absolutely DO NOT wish to hear when on a family holiday….
- No, dear. There is definitely no kids nurofen or panadol in the bathroom bag.
- I thought that you were packing the phone charger?!
- I’m just going to pop the bike on the car for a bit of a ride along the way.
- I need to poo NOW!!!!
- Didn’t you pack the garbage bag with all of the Christmas gifts in the car? It was with all the other bags?
- You mean…there is no more chilled wine in the fridge? Are you absolutely sure?
- They don’t serve hot chips? What sort of a place is this?
- No I definitely did not see Soft Teddy when we were leaving.
- Are we insured for that?
- Yep. Gastro has gone through the whole district, but I’m sure you guys will be fine.
- No where on the packaging did it say it required batteries. Oh. Yep. I see it now.
- I have absolutely no idea where the receipt for the present is.
- No Christmas present for me? You had one gift to organise and you forgot it?
- Does anyone have an ice pack?
- Oh really? Finally the Ashes is over, but the Big Bash is on? Every night?
- And of course, the golden classic when a beach holiday is booked…Rain. The forecast is rain for every day we are there. But of course it is building up for a heatwave once we leave.
Luckily, not all of the above applied to me, but this break has been wildly hectic and has not necessarily flowed according to plan. It has been lovely to return to our home and head to the country to be with the family, but there has also been vomit, tears and tantrums, and numerous confused plans (never rely on just text messages). Possibly my low light was falling backwards off a bench at a cafe with both kids in my arms. The crack as my daughter’s head hit the cement has not been easily forgotten, but we were incredibly lucky she was OK. Might I add here, that I was the designated driver, and my daughter launched herself at me whilst my son was already climbing all over me, causing me to overbalance. Though I know I couldn’t have stopped it, the guilt was horrible.
We have a few more fabulous holiday treats planned as my husband takes a well deserved extended break, and I am relishing having another pair of hands and eyes to help out as we get ourselves sorted.
Even so, let’s hope I don’t have any more pointers to add to the above list by the time school starts back….
