'When we start planning, there's a part of me that starts to spiral': How Zoe Marshall overcame hurdle
By Zoe Marshall|
Zoe Marshall, podcaster and mum of two, is 9Honey Parenting's new columnist?
I'm not sure this is a secret, but I'm a control freak. This is something I'm working on each and every day. ?
And when we start planning family holidays, there's a part of me that starts to spiral.
You see, when we're in our natural habitat at home with our kids, things are somewhat controlled. If someone's sick or having a tantrum, if you're in your environment, we've got safeguards to make things less chaotic.
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We've got medicines, thermometers and their comfy beds. If there's a tantrum we have distractions: TV shows, toys and activities, like Play-Doh, using the swing set or going for a walk outside.
But recently we started to think it would be so nice to go somewhere warm. We've all been sick with the flu. I was thinking, 'You're tired, your husband's tired, the kids are cranky, a change of scenery was just what we need.'
But where? That was the first question.
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And how long can you tolerate in a car or a plane with your kid? My daughter, who is two, loses it after 15 minutes in the car...
So I thought, I could tolerate an hour or two, maybe three hours max, on a flight.
That would mean we could make it to the Gold Coast, Noosa, or even Hamilton Island. But it's not quite warm enough in any of those places yet.
We considered overseas: Bali and Thailand were ruled out as both are a bit far.
Then we decided on Fiji.
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We also add a little extra chaos on top by deciding to travel with two of my son Fox's kindy mates and their parents. An incredible idea or a disaster? I wasn't sure which it would be.
One of the mothers decided we should all book flights together. Having the kids on the same flight sounds like it could be a great idea and, to be honest, Benji takes the lead when we travel. So, all I had to do was make sure I packed every single thing a control freak needs to feel calm in a new environment.
This took two to four weeks. I have lists on lists.
The suitcases are laid out and I put things in as I remember from chargers to medications and vitamins to aloe vera, swimsuits.? I'm also neurotic sleeping in new places: I need my own pillow and an eye mask.
This is when I start to think, 'Maybe we should just stay home...'
But I push myself. No, we can do this. We ended up booking a hotel we have stayed at before. I know? everything is there, and that takes half of my anxiety away. I wouldn't need to think about food, washing or even childcare as they have nannies and a kid's club.
Taking my chaos to a new environment without any help means I'm not having a holiday. It means I'm still working, but in a hot and sunny location. ?
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So how did it go in the end?
The anxiety dissipated the second I saw the kids happy. The short flight was a breeze and there were no tantrums.
Sure, we had hiccups. But we'd packed enough snacks, iPads, toys and games to handle them.
And the kids' excitement and happiness made every second of my anxiety worth it.
?Hear more from Zoe Marshall on her podcast The Deep
