Eyes on the prize

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It’s been 14 days, 23 minutes and 34 seconds of one-on-one time with the urchin. We’ve recently returned from two weeks of holiday – one week in Devon, the other in Menorca – together and while it was pure familial bliss for 74% of the time, that remaining 26% of papering over the tantrum cracks was tough going.

The stuff I learned:

Never answer the ‘Are we nearly there yet’ queries. This opens a can of worms. Answer ‘nearly’ and expectation is HIGH. They believe a swimming pool replete with inflatable Mickey Mouse is about to magically appear around the next corner. Best avoided at all costs.

Answer ‘not yet’ and spirits deflate like the aforementioned inflatable Mickey Mouse at the latter end of a holiday – the point where he’s been manhandled to within an inch of his life by the entire clan. Again, best avoided.

Instead go with stealth diversion tactics. Download the DisneyLife app and all your kid’s fave Disney films ahead of travelling – this restores all familial harmony in one click.

Then there’s The Stuff. The toys; the games; the Play Doh-embellished kitchen sink. I never forget my sister packing for Disneyland in 1995 – she packed an actual horseshoe. Yep, an iron horseshoe that caused all manner of bother for the airport scanner (and my parents whose withered look stays with me.)

That’s where the joy of the DisneyLife app unveils itself. After 12 minutes of Mae relentlessly asking if we were ‘nearly there yet’ (when we hadn’t even made it out of our street) and me wishing I’d allowed her to pack her entire room, I unveiled the secret weapon. The fact she could watch Mickey, Pumba, Aladdin et al. at her leisure was entertainment gold. Kid happy; mama happy.

Throw in some of her favourite Disney characters – need I mention Anna, Elsa, Olaf et al.? – and this was a holiday game changer. DisneyLife, we salute you. This is the epitome of Hakuna Matata, which basically equals no worries for the rest of your days or, at the very least, for the rest of the journey.

I am a DisneyLife Brand Ambassador and this post was created in partnership with DisneyLife who have provided me with a free 12 month DisneyLife membership. Watch DisneyLife video here.

 

 

 

Anna Whitehouse

Founder of Mother Pukka, Anna Whitehouse likes super hero cape-making classes and dislikes the naming of celebrity couples (TomKat, Brange etc.) She tries (and often fails) to parent the shit out of life.

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Turns out I’m not an afternoon person either.

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