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Going on holiday with the kids. I remember writing about this last year when I was in Langebaan. And I quote: "Holidaying with the kids. Now there is an oxymoron if I ever heard one. (For those of you have forgotten your high school English, an Oxymoron is defined as “ A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist ”[dictionary.com]). It's like putting the word “diet” in front of “chocolate”. Kids and “holiday” just don't go together. Don't get me wrong – I love going away and spending time with the family at a new location, but holiday it is not. It's not like I leave “mom / chef / nurse / cleaner / bottle washer” at home and go on holiday to be a sun goddess, oh no. I still carry on doing pretty much most of what I do at home, I just do it somewhere else. It is great having hubby around to lighten the load a bit, but that mother bit just never goes away entirely!"
A year down the line and what has changed? Well now I have a baby thrown into the mix. I remember complaining last year about all the stuff that needed to come with on holiday and that by the time you had finished packing the car and trailer you needed a holiday from the holiday! But I didn't realise how easy I had it then - just a couple of toys for Megan, some nappies, clothes and a campcot. Everything else we could buy in Langebaan. But now... don't get me started. Nappies, wipes, fragranced nuclear disposable baggies for teething poos, campcot, mattress, sleeping bag, formula, bottles, bottle brush, microwave steriliser, dummies, bathchair, babywash, hooded towels, face-clothes, a million changes of clothes to cover all manner of messes, two million bibs, Purity by the truckload, pram, carchair, enough rattles and toys to open a small shop, toddler's duvet, pillow, Mr Puppy, Rattle and Sundy (the three things she won't sleep without), and the travelling pharmacy: Empaped suppositories, Voltarin suppositories, Ponstel suppositories, Stopayne, Panado Infant Drops, Vidol teething powder, Panado Syrup, Buscopan, Cough medicine, antihistamine, etc. etc. etc. - call me paranoid, but you never know what's going to hit when. And I have learnt from experience... once we came to Langebaan for a weekend when Megan was about 15 months. Of course we hadn't toddler-proofed Langebaan yet and there was no lockable medicine cabinet, and she somehow managed to stretch high enough to reach up on the bathroom counter and take down the bottle of Panado Syrup... and opened it... and poured it all over the carpet... in my mom's room (my parents own the house, not us!). Yes, it could have been worse - i.e. ingested, but what happened consequently is a typical tale of Murphy's Law. Megan, who had been quite healthy for weeks, chose THAT NIGHT to have a FOURTY DEGREE FEVER! And the Panado Syrup? All over the carpet. Now you must remember this happened in Langebaan where there are no 24 hour pharmacies or close friends to fall back on! It was the one and only time I allowed Megan to drink directly from the Panado bottle, trying to get in every last drop of residue.
So now you know. I do take everything AND the kitchen sink when I travel with the kids. So you can imagine how long it took us to pack. Before Megan was born, before we even had dogs, we used to travel to Langebaan in my husband's teeny weeny Opal Corsa. Bags in the boot, no problem. Then we bought a "family car". For our two dogs (and no, they are not rotties, think "vienna sausage" - although they like to think they are rotties). So luggage on the backseat, dogs in the "dogbox". Then Megan came along, no space for all the baby paraphernalia that travels with her, so we bought a trailer. Dogs still in the back, Megan in the carchair, luggage now in the trailer. Off we go. Now we have Caty. What a big squeeze. Twice the amount of stuff to take with, plus two very unimpressed canines (after all they were the babies of the house, now things like the frequency and texture of baby poo is higher on the list of things to pay attention to). We really struggled to pack the car and ended up having to leave behind daily essentials like the bouncy chair, the high chair, the bumbo chair (perfect to leave in the bathroom for when I need to use the facilities!), the playgym, the PVR decoder, the case of wine, the kids... haha. Next time, if I should be so lucky... started working on hubby already for an overseas holiday next year for JUST US (i.e. kids to Granny), but was told it's a trip, or a new kitchen... (something I have wanted since we bought our house nearly six years ago)... oh well, France will always be there another time... move over James Tanner, I'm armed and dangerous, even if it is only with a spatula covered in baby drool having been sucked on... wait, on second thoughts, James Tanner in MY kitchen?? Dream on Mommy... Dream on.
For those of you who DON'T watch BBC food and DON'T know who James Tanner is... think a young Brad Pitt crossed with Jamie Oliver...
© Sally Hetherington .
