The voice note a friend left me before my family and I flew to Thailand was wonderfully optimistic: “I hope you’ll have a lovely relaxing time away with the kids.”
Relaxing, as a verb, has not been a word used in our holiday vocabulary for almost a decade since our son, who's now 10, discovered his legs could be used to toddle himself away from mummy and daddy and how much "fun" it was when they chased after him.
In my family, we refer to holidays as “surviving abroad” or “keeping the children safe in a different country”; the word relaxing doesn’t make an appearance in either scenario.
On her blog The Parent Cue, family writer Sarah Anderson notes: “I heard someone say once that a vacation with little kids is like an away game. You’re doing the same stuff you do at home – the same work, the same disciplining, the same schedule, the same requirements, but in an unfamiliar place. With lots of sand.”
If you’re a parent to children under 12, your holiday will not be a holiday as you had previously known it.
So, put aside your jealousy of all those older parents casually traversing piazzas or newer ones lying flat on sunloungers with babies safely next to them in pushchairs; worry not, their time will come.
Here’s how to make a holiday with children vaguely resemble a holiday …
Two words: children's club
On our recent holiday, we stayed in two resorts, one of which had a terrible club with no planned activities, one (unengaged) member of staff and approximately three board games and a pack of Uno cards.
The second had one with plenty of staff, hourly planned activities, a gaming area, a pool table, air hockey, outdoor treasure hunts and more.
Bottom line: When going abroad, the children's club at the resort can make or break the vacation.
Look for clubs with multiple staff and good online reviews, then aim to send little ones in at a set time each day. The best times we found are mid-morning, after lunch or late afternoon, allowing for a much-needed couple of hours off for mum and dad.
Pools are not just for swimming
The pool is another vital component to the success of holidays with young children.
To a parent, the Instagrammable aesthetics of an infinity or sunset pool pales in comparison to a swimming pool that entertains the children.
The pool is where you will spend most of your time watching your fingertips grow wrinkly, so look for options with additional entertainment, such as a slide, waterfall, splash pad or shallow area for toddlers.
Just accept that you will not sit down or read a book.
Yes, your towel will go on the sunlounger, but that’s it. Once it's secured, you will be on your feet until snack time.
You will walk, swim, chase and do that awkward bent-knee squat in the pool when the water’s too deep for kneeling and too shallow to swim.
You will be splashed in the face, required to blow up inflatables, watch the children go down the slide a hundred times, referee the bickering, watch them in the deep end, find goggles and myriad other things.
What you will not get to do is crack open the latest Jonathan Franzen.
Don’t make any plans
Gone are the days of planning a fun vacation itinerary of places to visit, cobbled streets to stroll down, photo ops and lovely little bistros to dine at.
Successful family vacations are far easier when you make no plans apart from arriving at the hotel with all the luggage intact and having avoided a Home Alone-type situation.
Holidays with children mean you never know what might happen. They might get sick or have a tantrum that turns into an all-day bad mood. Alternatively, the weather may not be right and you end up at the waterpark during a downpour.
Unless there are activities that need to be booked in advance, my advice is to loosely make each day’s plans during breakfast each day.
Keep dining casual
Going out for lunch or dinner requires the same arsenal of entertainment you use when dining out at home. But if you want to limit screen time, dining out requires a little additional planning.
Choose family-friendly restaurants designed to accommodate little ones with special menus and an easy-going approach to children running around.
Beachside restaurants are another good idea allowing children to play in the sand or collect shells while you wait for your food to arrive.
If you want to do a little shopping after dinner, avoid dessert at the restaurant and go out for ice cream afterwards. A well-filled cone can buy you at least 20 minutes of uninterrupted retail therapy.
Just don’t forget the wet wipes.
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Company%20Profile
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Final scores
18 under: Tyrrell Hatton (ENG)
- 14: Jason Scrivener (AUS)
-13: Rory McIlroy (NIR)
-12: Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP)
-11: David Lipsky (USA), Marc Warren (SCO)
-10: Tommy Fleetwood (ENG), Chris Paisley (ENG), Matt Wallace (ENG), Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR)
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
Turkish Ladies
Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
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Essentials
The flights: You can fly from the UAE to Iceland with one stop in Europe with a variety of airlines. Return flights with Emirates from Dubai to Stockholm, then Icelandair to Reykjavik, cost from Dh4,153 return. The whole trip takes 11 hours. British Airways flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Reykjavik, via London, with return flights taking 12 hours and costing from Dh2,490 return, including taxes.
The activities: A half-day Silfra snorkelling trip costs 14,990 Icelandic kronur (Dh544) with Dive.is. Inside the Volcano also takes half a day and costs 42,000 kronur (Dh1,524). The Jokulsarlon small-boat cruise lasts about an hour and costs 9,800 kronur (Dh356). Into the Glacier costs 19,500 kronur (Dh708). It lasts three to four hours.
The tours: It’s often better to book a tailor-made trip through a specialist operator. UK-based Discover the World offers seven nights, self-driving, across the island from £892 (Dh4,505) per person. This includes three nights’ accommodation at Hotel Husafell near Into the Glacier, two nights at Hotel Ranga and two nights at the Icelandair Hotel Klaustur. It includes car rental, plus an iPad with itinerary and tourist information pre-loaded onto it, while activities can be booked as optional extras. More information inspiredbyiceland.com
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 310hp
Torque: 366Nm
Price: Dh200,000
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
ELECTION%20RESULTS
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Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
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