A letter from Mauritius

Eid Mubarak and happy holidays

Hello from beautiful Mauritius!

We are here for the week for some much needed rest and relaxation.

We are in the south of the island in Le Morne, which is stunning. The weather is the perfect mix of sun, wind and light rain; the water is crystal clear and the parrot fish is delicious - even my 3-year old is eating it!

I feel like you don’t realize how tired you are until you go holiday. The first few days were sluggish, eating and catching up on sleep. Now we feel rejuvenated and able to embrace the activities of the island. We’ve been to the animal safari and swimming with the dolphins.

This holiday has been transformational for my kids in a few ways, perhaps that’s what traveling does?

Here are some of our big wins from this holiday, in the 5 short days we have been here:

My kids are trying different food

Being on holiday means my kids don’t have access to the same type of food they get at home, apart from rice and pasta. Of course they are still eating the rice and the pasta (with butter, obviously), but the boredom from that has been real and to our surprise they have been eating things like: bacon (!), fish, barbecue chicken wings (my son insists chewing on the bones!), kiwi, and passion fruit.

My daughter is taking on the role of big sister

Although only 2 years apart, on this trip my daughter has embodied the role of big sister to her 3-year old brother. She is not fighting him, is giving him what he wants, sharing everything, helping him change clothes and even helping him in the bathroom.

They are playing together better

Since they really only have each other on this holiday, it’s been so wonderful to see them play together. Building magnet castles, playing in the pool, on the beach and in their self made umbrella tents on our bed.

My son has overcome his fear of water

My son started swimming in November 2020. However, he has never enjoyed the water and always cried in it. We have had to pull him out of swimming classes twice. In Mauritius, we’ve had a mission to help him overcome his fear of water, and 2 days of crying later, he is now insisting on going to the pool (woot! woot!). He is going underwater, and he even went into the sea! This is huge for him and for us.

My son is almost potty trained

We decided that this trip we would not let Aaron wear nappy, except on the plane. We have had a few accidents but all in all, I am proud to say he is almost completely potty trained.

It’s not all been stars and smiles

Meltdowns while eating

The main challenge we faced this trip is eating at restaurants, without a meltdown. Ria, my 5-year old daughter, has been a dream.

My son Aaron, who is 3, wants to follow us (me) while getting our food; take the food himself (and you can imagine how that goes), and then when he sits down he wants to cut his food himself (with a knife) - and if you resist any of the above asks, you will have to take him out of the restaurant so his screaming doesn’t disrupt everyone else.

I must add that this is mainly at dinner time. He is tired by then so I guess we cannot blame him. Breakfast has been easier.

For the last 2 nights we have resorted to taking tablets to dinner, unfortunately.

How do you get your toddlers to listen at a restaurant?

No naps

My son usually naps for 1-2 hours in the day. This holiday, no naps. In other words, no downtime from a terror of a toddler. We will miss this time, I am told, so we are embracing the chaos of it.

Questions, questions and more questions

You gotta love your kids for being curious, but it can be exhausting.

• Why can we put cucumber on our eyes but not bacon?

• Why do the drinks come with a straw and a stirrer?

• Why don’t I have webs like Spider-Man?

• Why doesn’t the buggy have seatbelts?

• Why can’t we have gummies for breakfast?

• Why are some apples green and some red?

• Why are there 3 mummy lions with 1 daddy lion? (At the safari park)

• Do sharks have a nose?

• How can StoryBots breathe under water?

• Why are there no stars in the shape of a bear?

The list goes on. And on. And on.

Rest, rest, food, and a book!

All in all, we have had an amazing break. Lots of rest, lots of food, lots of sweet dreams, episodes of 1923 and, I have read 58 pages of a book! A book! Remember those things? haha

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To those celebrating Eid holidays, Eid Mubarak and I hope you all have a wonderful break.

And I hope the rest of you are getting some downtime in Spring.

All my love,

Abha x