Holidays aren't quite what they used to be

One of the many things I would have done differently if I had known what life is like once you have children would have been to go on more holidays and chill out more when I was on them. There is nothing restful about a holiday with three small boys! Our camping trip to Dorset a couple of weeks ago was our first holiday on our own with the three of them - apart from a couple of shorter trips with family we haven’t been away since A was born. 

If I’m honest, quite a lot of things are a lot more effort when we’re away, we are definitely creatures of habit and routine at home. We struggled without the reusable nappies and wipes this time - A decided to poo five or six times a day and the disposable wipes and nappies were not up to the job! There’s no regular online food delivery and, as we were camping, no fridge to keep everything cool and provide a ready supply of houmous. And whatever toys I pack I’ve always brought the wrong ones. 

I spent a lot of the first couple of days feeling decidedly grumpy, wondering why we had bothered and thinking ‘it will be easier next year’. But then I decided that was ok. It is hard work being away with a shuffling one year old and, two weeks into the summer holidays, two bigger boys who seemed pretty tired and unable to entertain themselves. They are as much creatures of habit as we are, particularly W, so it takes a bit of time to adjust to being away. 

And holidays are not all that bad! There are no chores to distract me from sitting and playing with the boys. At home I’m bad at giving them my undivided attention for any length of time as I’m always thinking about the next load of washing or cooking. Between us we managed to read W the whole of the first Famous Five book while we were away last week. Some of it went over his head but he really enjoyed it and we’ve borrowed the second one from the library already. And I love spending the days outside exploring new places. And the sleep could have been a lot worse - the older two were pretty reluctant to go to bed in the evenings (particularly T the night owl) but four mornings out of six everyone slept in past 7 o’clock which is unheard of when we’re at home. 

So despite my grumpy demeanour at times, we will persevere with holidays! I want to say it’s got to get easier as they get older but I suspect the challenges will just change. And I realise that I do have slightly rose-tinted spectacles when thinking about what holidays were like before we had children. It wasn’t always plain sailing, particularly when faced with too many options (like where to eat in a town full of restaurants or where to put our towels on the beach!).