On Sunday, we came back from a trip to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. It was our first big trip since Lauren, my youngest daughter, was born.
We’ve been putting it off because we were scarred by our first mega trip with Angelica, my eldest, when she was two.
We were young parents then, totally ignorant and with a bit of a Superman complex, as in, we thought we could handle anything. We thought it’d be a breeze to take her on an 18-hour flight to Los Angeles, lay over for five hours, and take her on another four-hour flight to Houston.
What? People don’t do that with a two-year-old?
Apparently not, because our two-year-old screamed the entire way there.
The two-year-old spent the entire 10 days crying and whining intermittently for home.
My husband and I were properly put in our place. No Superman status for either of us.
So with Lauren, we were extra careful, testing the waters with short car trips, starting with one-hour car rides to Port Dickson, and gradually even braving the five-hour drive to Singapore, then Penang. Save for a little fussiness, she was fine.
This trip, I was prepared. I had cardigans, colouring books, storybooks, Japanese crackers, Ribena drinks, Oreos and the iPad in my handbag.
Their father had bought and downloaded a Tinkerbell movie, Secret of the Wings into his iPad, ready to be whipped out at the first whine.
We fed them both McDonald’s at the airport before we boarded. We had all the bases covered. It didn’t matter that my bag weighed like a sack of rice.
I needn’t have worried so much after all. Perhaps it’s because Lauren is older now; she just turned four. She was excited to get on the plane, and spent the entire flight happy and well-behaved.
Of course, Tinker Bell and the snacks helped. She only asked five times whether we were there yet. I could live with that.
We stayed by the beach the first two days, and the kids practically lived in the sea during that time. We were at the beach from 7am in the morning. This was also another first for Lauren, who had steadfastly stayed on the sand during previous beach holidays, refusing to touch the water.
After some cajoling and perhaps one or two threats, she tentatively stepped into the waves lapping at the shore. One wave, two waves, three waves, and pretty soon, she was splashing about like her sister.
Another score for me!
When the sun got too hot at noon, I lured them back to the chalet with cartoons and chocolate cereals.
Tip to all mothers out there, always bring a box of chocolate cereals and a six-pack of milk on holiday. These were such lifesavers during our trip. Usually, I don’t let them eat the sugar-laden, cocoa-infused cereal, which is probably why it worked like a charm.
Mummy is cool at the beach, they said. Yes, I was!
Lunches were usually quick meals in town, and by 3pm, we were back on the beach again, until it got too chilly at 7pm, and we had to go for yucky seafood, according to the kids.
For the record, the seafood was excellent, and not yucky at all. The kids will believe me when they turn 18. When we moved to town, the kids were unimpressed.
They asked me to buy the chalet we stayed in so that they could live there forever. Yeah, right. But we’re going to the islands, I told them. All was well again. They relished their first boat ride to Manukan Island, and actually just wanted to go back and forth on the boat.
Angelica did parasailing with her father, and officially became the bravest person in the family.
It was a great holiday, sandfly bites and all. Our faith in ourselves as parents has been restored – we could actually take the kids on a proper holiday! Once you can take young kids on a holiday, you can do anything! Because it’s never just about booking tickets and rooms. It’s about planning and strategising, preparing for 10 different scenarios that could crop up, and packing enough supplies to survive the trip.
When you really think about it, it’s kind of like war. Everything has to happen with military precision.
We have to stay near food and water. The kids have to be kept occupied, otherwise chaos ensues.
At any time, there has to be snacks on hand, because when they say they’re hungry, more often than not, they’re already near starvation.
It’s the same with toilet trips; when they say they have to go, they mean NOW.
So, if you’ve also just come back from a fabulous family trip, pat yourself on the back. You deserve a medal, or maybe a trophy. Heck, just go ahead and build a monument in your honour.
High on the success of this holiday, I’ve gone and booked two more holidays for 2013.
Look out, world, my kids are on the way! Happy new year, everyone!
Elaine Dong blogs at www.angelolli.com.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
