Who doesn’t love the school holidays? Being around family and friends, having a jam-packed itinerary, exploring new places and tasting unusual food are all ingredients for fun. Sometimes, though, these very things can turn school holiday cheer into utter chaos.
Take it from a mum of three under-12s I spoke to who’s lived through her fair share of school holidays and seen even the best-laid plans go completely askew. She prefers to remain anonymous so let’s call her Mummyfied.
Mummyfied is an old friend and one of the most organised mums I know. She’s a seasoned globetrotter who regularly takes her kids on trips, but even she gets a little frazzled when school holidays and family vacations come around. “From finding activities to entertain everyone in my family – my kids now aged 10, seven and four, and yes, my 40-year-old husband, too! – to packing favourite toys, and clearing and delegating work to my colleagues, the lead up to overseas trips gets pretty crazy. It’s enough to make me wish I could clone myself or eliminate school holidays altogether! But don’t get me wrong; I adore my kids and love being around my family. Travelling with them is great for bonding and creates unforgettable shared memories,” she says.
Family holiday fails shared by a mum
Odd as it may sound, some of Mummyfied’s most memorable school holidays are not the ones that went without a hitch but those that went wrong – complete family holiday fails. She’s kindly agreed to let me share these personal tales of school holiday-related mishaps, injuries and A&E visits. While one or two may leave you in stitches (euphemistically, that is), I hope they’ll also bring comfort to parents who may feel somewhat lacking in parenting abilities when things go wrong during an outing or overseas trip with their children. You’re not alone, so don’t close the door on family holidays just yet.
Family Holiday Fail #1: The “catching” session that led to gold pooping
“After hogging my bed for years, my two preschoolers were being upgraded to their own bunk bed and room. Their school holiday was the perfect time for this ‘migration’ – if they had trouble sleeping, I wouldn’t have to worry about getting two cranky kids ready for preschool the next morning. After more than two hours of chatter and giggles, I was on the verge of giving up hope of ever reclaiming my bed. Then it got quiet. Finally!
When I went into the room to turn off the night light, I found my younger daughter on the lower bunk wide-eyed and uncharacteristically still. As I moved in closer to investigate, she very calmly said she had swallowed a S$1 gold coin after ‘catching’ it from her older sister on the bunk above using her mouth! I wasn’t sure if it was true as she wasn’t gagging or struggling to breathe but rushed her to the nearest children’s A&E anyway. An x-ray confirmed a coin was lodged in her digestive tract.
Panic, fear, embarrassment and guilt set in, however the doctor was surprisingly cool. He said that as long as my child was behaving normally, she just needed to be monitored till she passed out the gold coin. He did add though that if my daughter had swallowed a button battery instead, digestive fluids could’ve triggered an electrical current, leading to severe burns in the digestive system. Scary!
Back home, I fed my daughter more fruits and vegetables, repeatedly coaxed her to use the potty, then stuck my triple-gloved hands into her poo hoping to find the coin. Sounds gross but I went right in and made sure I didn’t miss a spot. Two days later, you could say we struck gold! I was relieved that the coin was out but decided to keep her and my older kid in my bed for another eight months before trying to move them into their own room again!”
Family Holiday Fail #2: The one where Mr Pinkie got caught in the door
“On our Monte-Carlo self-drive tour, rounding everyone up into the car before each day’s activities was a little crazy no matter how much prep we did the night before. Missing shoes, water bottle spills, squabbles over who gets the window seat and last-minute toilet calls all ate away at precious holiday time.
We were getting better at being organised as the vacation progressed until my five-year-old son’s pinkie got caught in the car door as it was slammed shut on our last day! The loudest scream pierced the air and plenty of heart-wrenching sobs followed. Thank goodness there wasn’t any blood loss or broken bones involved but there was severe bruising. My brave boy returned to school with an unusual holiday souvenir which he proudly showed off to his classmates: a little finger bandaged to the size of a cocktail sausage!”
Family Holiday Fail #3: The Merlion that wouldn’t leave
“On an island camping trip with my husband and kids one school holiday, I came down with food poisoning after eating some barbecued squid. I was throwing up every few hours but thankfully, I had some charcoal pills, which quickly settled things.
Just as I thought things were getting back on track, my middle kid started displaying similar symptoms the next day, but worse – he was projectile vomitting every hour and had uncontrollable, loose stool. As if it wasn’t hard enough being in recovery mode and having to look after one sick child, my eldest and youngest children started doing Merlion vomits and purging too! The youngest had it the worst, becoming weak and dehydrated. Thankfully, my husband was spared.
As much as the older two kids still wanted to stay on the island, my husband and I were worried about our youngest child. We had to quickly pull down the tent, pack up and take her to the children’s emergency department of a hospital on the mainland. My husband and I stayed by her side in the hospital ward as the paediatric team ran multiple tests and nursed her back to health. Meanwhile, my parents went over to my place to babysit my other two kids. My husband and I returned home to a huge load of soiled children’s clothing after that camping trip and it took months for any of us to go near barbecued sotong again!”
School holiday survival guide for parents
Things don’t always go as planned in life, and the odds just happen to get higher when school holidays and young kids are involved. However, stories of family trips gone wrong shouldn’t stop you from getting out there, hopping into a car, ship or plane, and having the best times with your family. You could even visit some homegrown museums in Singapore! (https://singlife.com/en/blog/lifestyle/2023/world-museum-day) You could even visit some homegrown museums in Singapore!
Check out our handy school holiday survival guide for parents before your next family vacation or school holiday outing with your children. These parenting tips for happy school holidays will help both kiddos and mums and dads have safe fun.
