Remember when holidays were relaxing? – Mummascribbles

Do you remember holidays before children?

The ones in your twenties with your friends that were full of booze, getting dolled up at 10pm and heading on out for a night of cocktails, dancing and maybe a spot of 2am skinny dipping as you pass the beach on your way back to your villa?

The ones with your other half where you had lazy mornings, days laying round the pool and days out exploring the area…if you could be bothered to even leave your apartment?!

I have had both of those types of holidays over the years but only a couple with my other half before we became pregnant.

The first was a long weekend away in Canterbury. We explored the beautiful town, we drove down to the seaside and relaxed on the beach and on one night, over a bottle of wine and a game of scrabble (which I won!), we decided to try for a baby!

Our next holiday was the following year when I was five months pregnant! We went to Turkey and we laid around the pool all day, every day! It was around 37 degrees every day and that was up in the mountains – I just couldn’t take the heat! We did wander down to the nearest town on one day but it was even hotter down there and I lasted about an hour before I needed to get back up to the pool! It was a holiday of pure relaxation. Wonderful.

And then came holidays with Zach! We’ve had two this year – our Eurocamp holiday and the one we’ve just returned from, the big family holiday to Norfolk. We had a big family holiday two years ago and it was nowhere near as hectic as this one was! There was one less child then and Zach was only just starting to walk!

I don’t know why I thought this year would be the same – with an extra child thrown into the mix, meaning four children of ages 6, 3, 2 (almost 3!), and 9 months, why oh why did we think that maybe, just maybe we may get a lay in? 

On the very first morning, we were awoken at 6.30am by the three eldest bundling into our room and trying to drag us downstairs! Knowing that the other half’s cousins were downstairs sleeping on a blow up bed in the front room, we managed to keep them upstairs for another hour before succumbing to their demands at 7.30. Down there, we found my sister in law feeding the baby!

The next day followed suit.

Then our nephew got croup. The poor little thing was coughing horrifically, vomiting through coughing and not sleeping well at all. So, we switched bedrooms. Originally the three older kids were sharing a room. Suddenly the oldest niece was in with her mum and baby sister, our nephew slept in what was our original bedroom with his dad and we ended up in two pushed together beds in with Zach (who was thankfully in his own daybed which he loved).

When we were in the original bedroom, the three kids would wake up and spend about half an hour in theirs playing amongst themselves. Even if this was slamming the shower door together to make a big bang, it meant we could at least keep our eyes closed a little longer. Once we were in with Zach, we’d hear the click of the door and in came the kids to see him! We couldn’t keep our eyes closed then and we were once again trying to keep them upstairs so as not to wake the whole house up!

In fact, it was Friday morning, that was the only morning that Zach slept in! Our nephew did peep his head in but thankfully realised Zach was still asleep, quickly left and I went back for a snooze! Zach woke up at 7.45 – it was bliss!

The only other morning I had a lay in was on Thursday because I woke up feeling like crap after the whole house was slowly coming down with illness! My lovely other half got up with the kids that day!

It was the same when we were in France on our Eurocamp holiday – Zach was up really early every single morning and we were left exhausted!

Of course, once all the kiddies were downstairs, it was time for breakfast chaos! As the sister in law was always up feeding the baby, we took on breakfast duties for all three kids! They rarely wanted the same thing each morning so it’d be porridge for one, Weetabix for another and coco pops for the last. Meanwhile I’d be making a cup of tea for myself and the sister in law and sneakily eating chocolate bicccies in the kitchen area! Well I needed the extra energy!

Then there was the keeping an eye on the kids, making sure they weren’t fighting, running off out the gate, playing nicely and not annoying the dog! It was a week of being fully switched on to everything that was happening around us!

Then followed the bedtimes each night. We tried to keep Zach to as best a routine as we could so as not to completely mess him up when we returned home. Of course, sometimes it was impossible, especially when he fell asleep on both journeys back from Great Yarmouth that was an hour and a half drive! And he’d already napped on the way there. On those days, he wasn’t asleep until 10pm!

And of course, those day trips were pretty knackering for us too! With me having to do all the driving and then the constant wandering around with pretty much the only time spent sitting down being in the car and for lunches, we got pretty tired!

Of course it was wonderful, especially spending time with the family and seeing Zach with his cousins.

But I couldn’t help but sit there thinking back to those peace filled holidays pre-Zach when we’d return feeling relaxed and refreshed rather than feeling that we need another holiday! Thank god it’s the weekend and not straight back into work! It’s going to be a while before we have one of those relaxing ones again! Especially if we throw another child into the mix sometime in the near future!

How are your holidays now you’ve got children? Do you long for those relaxing round the pool days?