Summer’s here; cue screaming toddlers on planes, sleepless nights and sandy sunscreen dramas, says father of two Jamie Day
Time for a holiday! Sun, sea and sangria. Plans for the week: remain horizontal. Oh wait, I forgot, I?ve got two kids. Sure, there will be plenty of sun, but not around midday or the kids will fry like rashers of bacon. There will be plenty of sea, but when I say ?plenty?, I mean you?ll be shrivelled up like a walnut having spent nine hours tugging around an inflatable dolphin. There may also be the odd sangria, but good luck drinking it before it turns to hot lava, as it sits out in the sun while you?re shrivelling in the sea.
But before all that, you?ve got the flight. Get through a flight with an explorative toddler or a bored child, and you?ll be laughing. We found out first hand just how difficult flights are with young children while en route to our first family holiday to Italy. Edie (who was nine months at the time) screamed so loud, mountain goats in the Alps were reported to have been seen leaping off cliff faces to escape the noise echoing from 30,000 feet above. A few months later, en route to California, and now walking, Edie toddled up and down the aisle 417 times. What started as something cute soon soured as the plane?s carpet started to wear thin, along with the fellow passengers? patience.
But we?ve learnt some lessons from those airborne experiences. With young toddlers it?s important to be well-equipped ? everything from milk...