Ok, I know it’s only August, but in my book it isn’t too late to start planning our Christmas holidays. Actually, it makes a lot of sense because it can get really booked practically everywhere in the world that time of year, and booking early can mean saving $$$. We just bought a new house- well, a new “old” (80′s built) house, and after going through all our renovation plans, we were told by our contractor that there was pretty much no chance that we would be in there by Christmas. So we thought we’d get creative this year and take the kids somewhere different, somewhere interesting for Christmas. The only pre-requisite – SNOW!!
The first contender on our list is Sapporo, Japan. It’s a lovely city in Japan’s northernmost island, Hokkaido, and known to be a very child-friendly place (like the rest of Japan is), with family skiing and LOTS of fun activities. My husband and I love Japan, the Japanese culture and especially the food, so Japan was a good choice. Plus, it won’t be as crowded like a lot of Western places over the holidays because of the Shinto/Buddhist religious aspects.
One more good thing is that the hotels and resorts in Sapporo are pretty affordable and often have great deals. Christmas is apparently a good time to go, because aside from the snow, there is fab shopping (for Mom) and interesting things to check out, like the Sapporo White Illumination and the German Christmas Market – cool! Check out the photo above, which was taken during the Sapporo Snow Festival, which happens in February.
Continuing from my last post, here’s the second installment, packing for preschoolers and grade schoolers. Traveling with this age group is actually a lot easier than with the younger ones. For one thing, they can carry their own bags (yay!) and they don’t need the cumbersome items like the bottles, formula, diapers, jars and so on. Phew!
If your kids are above age 3, then all you need are a few things for your carry-on. The rest, your kids can carry themselves. If you do have a baby or toddler, then see the previous post.
Your Carry-on
Aside from my stuff (toiletries, cosmetics, extra shirt, book) here’s what I usually take for the kids:
- 1 change of clothes for each child, including underwear (plus one extra top for preschoolers)
- 1 diaper for the preschooler (only for evening or longhaul flights)
- Ziplock bag of snacks
- Small plastic cutlery for each child (no knives in the plane)
- Baby wipes, tissues, small hair brush
- Small pack of crayons, markers and 2 pens – extras in case the kids lose/fight/need extra.
- small pad of paper
- 1 book
- Bottle of water (if flying, get this after the security check)
Kids Carry-on
- 2 small toys (boys tend to go for cars/trains, girls a “Polly Pocket” type of small doll)
- 1 “lovie” like a favorite doll, stuffed toy, mini-pillow or blanket
- 2 snacks – like a small box of raisins, biscuits
- 1 book
- 1 jacket or cardigan
- Small notebook/pad/ coloring book
- crayons / pen, pencil and eraser (neatly in a case)
- Video game (like a Gameboy or DS) – Useful for long airport waits, but keep it handy for airport security.
The Kids Suitcases
- 2 outfits for each day
- 1 “smart” outfit for a party or dinner out
- 1 pair of underwear for each day
- 1 pair or shoes, smart or closed
- Sandals or slippers depending on season
- Swimsuit, goggles, water wings (if needed)
- Winter essentials if needed, like gloves, thermal undies, boots etc.
- Hat or cap
- Cardigan or sweater (depending on season) – 1 every 3 days of trip
- 2 books
- 2 extra toys per child – puzzles, small action figure or car sets, barbie etc.
- Toiletries – 2-in 1 shampoo, 1 bar dove soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, hair brush
And Don’t Forget In Your Luggage!
- Small bars or pack of laundry detergent and rubber gloves
- Medical Kit – digital thermometer, first-aid supplies, medicine for both kids and adults, moisturizer, rash cream, mosquito repellent (if needed).
-More snacks, food if necessary (I take a few boxes of organic macaroni cheese if we’re going to a place with cooking facilities. Easy to just add veg for a healthy and quick meal)
Photo via catd_mitchell
I love traveling with my kids. Some parents shirk at the thought of it – and with good reason considering the amount of gear (snacks, toys, diapers, medicine, extra clothes, bottles, strollers etc) you have to take along for the journey, not to mention the pressing need for child-friendly accommodation, food and activities at the destination. But call us crazy, because since they were very little, my husband and I have taken our kids everywhere, from the Costa Brava to Bali, where we went last year when little Wills was just 5 months-old. Ok, so we have a LOT of luggage, and are lucky if we get any rest on the plane/train/car, but what we do have are great memories for the entire family.
Admittedly, with three children now, it’s not easy as it was when we just had Nat. It was a breeze with her alone (Paris), and not too bad either when Ollie came along and we took them both to Koh Samui. But now with Wills a toddler, things have gotten more challenging. Take our widely anticipated trip to Disneyland in February to celebrate Nat and Ollie’s birthday. In a terrible twist of fate, a week before the trip, I got a letter from Nat’s school, saying there was an epidemic of gastro going around the school. The next day, she promptly had the worse case of gastroenteritis she ever had, and although she got better just in time for the trip, both boys had caught it just as we left. Which meant an extra stroller, re-hydration drinks, extra sets of clothes and lots and lots of diapers. Not a big deal compared to the tears we had to deal with when they couldn’t have the creamy Mickey-shaped ice cream or french fries at Disneyland. But in spite of all that, the kids never remember the bad bits (like when our flight was cancelled on Boracay island and we had to spend the night in a really really dreadful hotel), and get very excited when we tell them we are planning our next trip.
In two weeks, we are going on our next family holiday to visit my husband’s elderly Father in Sri Lanka. He moved to the picturesque town on Galle in the South (far away from the war, thank goodness). He’s a great man, eccentric and full of amazing stories, but does not have the most child-friendly set-up – so it should be interesting!
Next- my top packing lists!
Photo via Activities4AllKids
I get newsletters from a lot of places, and admittedly I mostly just skim through them, only really clicking through if I find something especially interesting – like the other day! In my Fisher Price newsletter was a link to their 50th Anniversary toys, toys from my childhood.
If you grew up with Fisher Price toys like I did, I urge you to visit this page, I honestly got incredibly excited remembering the beloved toys my sister and I once played with for many happy hours. One thing I wasn’t aware of was how the “Little People” toys of today evolved from the ones we played with in the 70′s. My kids have the Christmas sets, which they love playing with, but the characters just don’t have the same appeal. They look too much like cartoons in my opinion (which I admit is completely biased!).
The first “house” I had was this yellow house you see above. I still have it in storage in my Mom’s house but sadly it’s pretty war torn with the pieces all disappeared – boo hoo. Fisher Price now has a “50th Birthday” version, which is just a few “retro” figures in a tin which vaguely looks like the original. A poor substitute, I think! They could have at least made replicas of the original people.
Other favourites which tug at my childhood heartstrings are the Sesame Street “street”, pictured at the top of the post and the airport just above. I could go on, and go the extra mile by actually purchasing these toys on Ebay (tempting, if it weren’t for the exorbitant prices), but for now I’ll just have to be content to look wistfully at these online photos.
For more memory tripping, check out this 1977 Fisher Price catalog, which I think is meant to be a bit of a joke, but for a seventies kid like me, is another lovely walk done memory lane.
We just got back from a perfect beach holiday over the Easter break. Well, it was nearly perfect as holidays-with-kids go if I don’t count:
1. Squabbling between my 4 and 7 year old over so many things I can’t remember anymore.
2. My accident prone 4 year-old’s scraped and bleeding big toes – where he scraped it, we have no idea.
3. 1-year-old Wills getting cut on the lip a grand total of 3 times. He learned to love ice and I found a “cool” way to distract him for a while on the high chair (pardon the pun) – a cube of ice!
4. Our “Marley-esque” Basset hound Wendy going on a destructive spree and chewing 3 bedspreads and a chair, not no mention several toys and my husband’s favourite sandals.
But that aside, my husband and I both agreed that it was one of the most relaxing and lovely holidays we’ve ever had. The kids were outside most of the day, swimming and playing – happily NOT on the DS, Wii, Gameboy or logged on to Nick jr.. Dad had real quality time with them as did I, and we had several family games (amazingly no cheating occurred) of Star Wars Monopoly, Guess Who and The Game of Life, Moms fave which, to my disappointment was too long for my kids (for now). They loved Guess Who, another one of my sister and my favourites. We discovered it on holiday in Paris when we were kids, and I think it was called “Qui est-ce?”. Gosh, how we loved that game, and I think the French did too. Here’s a hilarious video I found of the “Guess Who International Tournament”.
Photo via rycat
Little Wills is now 14 months (where does time go?) and toddles about the house like the full-fledged toddler he is. With his cherubic golden curls, sunny personality (he screams with delight when he gets excited) and amusing “toughness” (if you take the object of his fascination away he gets angry!), he’s a joy to have around and wherever he goes people can’t help but smile.
It’s his 2nd Easter now, the last one he was a newborn and hardly noticed, but this year his eyes (and hands) are darting around the house, mostly at the Easter decorations that we just put up yesterday. As we are a family big on holidays (it makes life more enjoyable), we have 4 Fun Easter Activities lined up for some quality time with the children.
1. Bake an Easter Bunny Cake – This recipe from Betty Crocker is the cutest and will get the kids excited and hopping around like bunnies for sure. It uses a cake mix and ready-made-frosting so it suits Moms who don’t have the time. If I’m feeling energetic by Saturday, I’ll do it from scratch – time consuming, but a much healthier option!
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Our furry friends have been known to lower stress of parenting and childhood for they offer companionship without question even if they do get around to mischief from time to time. Raising kids can be quite hectic specially in today’s recession wrecked economy but having them take care of a pet can be a nice way to teach them some responsibility. They do entail some costs for care and veterinary services to ensure they are fit and well but take my word for it, they’re well worth the cost so knowing the breed through updated dog information is essential for both your sakes.
You can also try animal shelters and animal charities for some pets that have had it rough and need loving families. May you be a pet lover or not, dogs and all other pets deserve care for they are our responsibility. Dogs are more energetic than cats and may even contribute to the health of your family as you have to take them for walks, call it a symbiotic existence where both benefit from living together.
Parents and kids alike will benefit for with the kids, they get to get a taste of responsibility and compassion for animals. For us adults, they become a sort of multi-tasking ward, guarding our homes, watching over the kids and what can we say, it’s just fun to talk and pour out stress without having the other party answer back!!!
As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before on this blog, the mayhem of my holiday season does not end in January. In our family, after the flurry of gifts, shopping, and get-togethers, we have about a week of peace before the planning and anticipation starts for the three most awaited and celebrated days of the year – my children’s birthdays. We used to get about two weeks break after December, but since little William’s debut last January, the crunch is now even earlier!
So by around January 6th, the Epiphany, after I packed away the Christmas decorations, I started going on panic mode, which I of course didn’t notice but was calmly pointed out by my husband. I had good reason too – THREE birthday parties in a span of 10 days??!! For the past 6 years I had gotten away with doing joint parties for #1 and #2 – obviously the choice of #1 each time, where I snuck in a cake of # 2′s choice (like at the Hannah Montana party last year, #2 had a Mickey and the Beanstalk cake amid the rockstar purple and pink).
So this year, when he told me, very reasonably, that he wanted a Backyardigans party, how could I refuse? Then # 1 pointed out that as she was in a new school and had new friends, she also wanted her own party…..then, my Grandmother also said that little Will’s 1st was in need for a party, however small, for obvious reasons. So yes, it all made sense, and the panic button was pressed, hard. Logistics are the first nightmare as our garden is too small to have a bouncy castle or any kind of wild-running play; then the large expenses involved, and the sheer legwork of putting these things together – games, cakes, lootbags, decorations, entertainment and so on.
In the end I put my hands up in desperation and suggested the following: a tiny party for Wills 1st at home and we head to Disneyland for 4 days of sheer bliss (according to my kids) on the 7th and 8th, #2 and 1#’s birthdays respectively.
Thankfully, hubby agreed! Until next year…..
Photo via Starting Photo Business Ideas
Recently, my sister sent me a link to download a new browser for kids, called KIDO’Z Browser.
My nearly-4 Ollie is budding computer geek, and would stay home and play on the computer or Wii all day if he could. After the long Christmas break it was a bit of a daily struggle to stick to the ” Friday rule” (which means he can only play on the weekends), but he’s a good little boy and now doesn’t make a fuss. Without much help from me, online he learned how to go through the bookmark folder I set up for him, with all his favourite sites like Sesame Street, Nick jr. etc. He even learned how to write his name on his own, and learn shapes, colors and so on, especially on Sesame. He never strays to “off limits” sites, nor does his sister, who also just sticks to their “Nat & Ollie” folder on my computer.
But I downloaded this KIDO’Z anyway, mainly because I trust my sister, who is good about giving appropriate, no viruses, non-spyware etc. things online (it won the 100% clean award!). And, it had really cute graphics!
Needless to say, both my kids LOVED it, as it is so easy to use. There is even a YouTube channel for kids videos, and they add new things regularly, which they claim are all child-friendly and safe (am still a little skeptical, so I check when I don’t know the site). Aside from a little bit of crashing the first day or so after I installed it on my Mac, we haven’t had any complaints.
Whether it’s on the days leading up to Christmas or on Christmas day itself, after the presents have been open and everyone is stuffed full, happy and needing a good laze on the sofa, one tradition my family loves to do is to watch a Christmas film.
Here are our favourites:
1. It’s a Wonderful Life – No need for introductions here, who doesn’t know the Jimmy Stewart classic that makes me and my husband cry, no fail, every Christmas. Our kids have so far been a little young for this, but this year we’ll be trying it out on Nat (who’s 7 in February).
2. Miracle on 34th Street – This was one of my favourites growing up, and while I think the new version (with the fellow from the Practice) isn’t bad at all, the classic film with Natalie Wood is still the best.
3. The Grinch – My kids like the Jim Carey film and actually watch it all year round, but I prefer the old cartoon – obviously because it’s what I grew up with, and also because the cartoon Grinch is much more charmingly evil than Jim Carey with all that weird makeup.
4. Scrooge – We love musicals, and so this rendition of “A Christmas Carol” is something the kids enjoy too. Lovely old-fashioned songs, the classic Dickens tale, a film we can’t miss watching every year.
5. The Santa Clause (1, 2,3) – Tim Allen makes us all laugh in this household, and the festive effects in all 3 films are pretty wonderful. The modern twist is also fun to watch – and makes my kids wish it would happen to their Dad!
6. A Christmas Story – I love coming-of-age films, and this one is a firm favorite – just the thought of the “leg” lamp in the “fragile” package makes me laugh out loud! Letting the kids see the “olden”, simpler days of the 50′s is also good.
7. A Charlie Brown Christmas – Ok, so my husband who’s not so big on cartoons won’t join us for this one (also because he’s English, so Charlie Brown isn’t really something he grew up with), but I love watching this with the kids for its quiet, jazzy music, old-style humour (you blockhead!) and nostalgic feel. Perfect!
From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!!
