Why We Cancelled Our Holiday

In January, we booked a Monday-to-Friday trip in March for the four of us (me, my husband, our 1-year-old and 4-year old). It was meant to be our last out-of-season holiday before our oldest starts school in September and we’re forced into school holiday pricing. 

Then the chaos began…

• We all caught flu over Christmas. My husband was bed-bound on Christmas Day, and I ended up packing up the kids and hot-footing down the motorway to my sister’s house for the day.

• The youngest developed a chest infection which we discovered at a hospital appointment on Boxing Day (26th).

• On New Year’s Day, our eldest climbed onto his brother’s scuttlebug, fell off and broke his collarbone. Cue another hospital trip and juggling work and childcare while he recovered.

Amid all this, our parents - who lived just round the corner, both passed away within 3 weeks. In fact my Granny died on the day of my Grandad’s funeral. We saw them all the time, and them no longer being part of our weekly routine is a real wrench.

Add to that tough Fridays with the boys (I don’t work Fridays so look after them then), a tricky patch with our eldest, and an existential crisis (my own) at my day job, and it was all a bit much. 

Suddenly, a holiday that meant no childcare for 10 days felt overwhelming. The packing, getting there, figuring out how everything works in a new place, all while juggling young kids and their needs - it all just felt too much.

What I really needed was to hit pause, to catch my breath, to process and to reset.

So we came up with Plan B:

• Two nights in a treehouse in the middle of nowhere, just the two of us. Nature, baths, reading, board games, nothing to do, nowhere to be, and only an hour from home.

• A bridge day at home, unpacking and repacking, and continuing to go slow.

• Then, a short family break closer to home so our 4-year old wouldn’t be disappointed (we’d forgotten we’d told him about the original holiday plan!). 

I’m writing this on the in-between day - back from the treehouse and before we go on our little family break. I’m sitting by the pool on a spa day to maximise the relaxation before the next few nights as a family.

It has actually ended up being the perfect combination (although maybe ask me again after the family break!). 

I love spending quality time with the kids, so I’m glad we’re going away for a couple of nights all together.

AND I needed a break for myself (as did my husband). So we found a way to balance it all, and I’m 100% certain it’s a far better plan than our original week-long “break” would have been.