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Aug. 21st, 2013 12:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
girlofpreyI am back from my holiday.
Mostly, I'm not sure I'm cut out for holidays at the moment. Because when I go on planes, I worry about getting DVTs, and when I'm in bright sunshine, I worry about getting sunburn and then eventually skin cancer. My mum said we couldn't leave our balcony doors open because of my mosquitoes, and I started worrying about malaria, and we had a lot of rich food and sweets and ice-creams and stuff, and I started worrying about diabetes. Add to that having two small children, 8 and 5, to look after - and to worry about THEM getting sunburn because I was hogging the shade or getting malaria - and my anxiety levels were pretty high throughout a lot of the holiday. And then on the last day, my overtired MN threw himself to the ground in a tantrum, and accidentally smacked his head on a wall, so I got to worry about making him go on a plane with a possible head injury. Fun times.
But apart from that, it was pretty lovely. Well, the fairest thing I can say about it was that it was variable. The hotel was lovely, but we were on the South coast of Spain, and the weather was scorching. For a few days at the beginning of the holiday we had a bit of cloud cover every now and then in the morning, and for one glorious afternoon it was overcast, but other than that, it was just sunshine. Like a laserbeam. We were in a hotel a way outside Benalmedina, so we had to get the bus when we wanted to go into town, and we tried it one day and I think I nearly passed out. To be fair, I hadn't put any suncream on, so I was keeping my linen jacket on for the sake of my shoulders everywhere we went, but. It was SO hot. And the kids didn't care, they just kept running round and round, wanting to do things and go to new places. asdjkdak.
But eventually, we got into the hang of things. We resigned ourselves to the fact that just staying by the pool was probably the best option most days, and my dad started getting down to the sunbeds early to find us some good spots with a lot of shade, and a couple of umbrellas. After a few days of putting on suncream and going a bit red anyway, I started just putting some Factor 50 we had on, so I stopped worrying about getting sunburned. We were all-inclusive, so we didn't have to worry about buying drinks and stuff, and the food was really good. And the kids loved the pool, and made a few friends they could play with while they were there. So it sort of evened itself out after a bit. I have to say though that I am glad we went for a week, and not 2 weeks. Or 10 days even.
And other than that there were just a few things. Like the fact that not all the waiters in the restaurant could speak English. And I know it's a fairly self-centred thing to expect, but mum told me Benalmedina was a really touristy place, and we went with Jet2 on a package holiday, so I just sort of assumed they would. And when we were having problems, they never went to get a waiter who spoke English, they just repeated things in Spanish. I think if I hadn't done a GCSE in Spanish and didn't still remember bits of it, it would have been a bit difficult for us all. Likewise, the people who ran the kids club didn't really speak English, so my nephews didn't really enjoy it so much. My ON did go a few times, and enjoyed it, when he'd made a few friends who spoke English there, but my MN wouldn't go. And there were a few problems between my nephews and some of the other kids there who didn't speak English, because when there was an issue they couldn't argue properly, so it descended into violence pretty quickly. And my nephews are always quite ready for things to descend into violence. Before an argument has even begun sometimes. But overall we sort of managed with everything, and when we got used to doing the same things every day we ran into less problems. It's fair enough really, I suppose, Spain is a foreign country and we don't speak the language. We just weren't really expecting it.
But we did have a lot of lovely times there. When we went into town the first time, we went to the Sealife Centre, and my nephews actually enjoyed for a while I think, before they started just running around. They both really loved the pool, and as far as I can tell my MN taught himself to swim over the course of the week. He'd been to a couple of swimming lessons before the holiday, but had just messed about and then had to stop for some reason. At the beginning of the holiday he didn't even want to get in the water because it was too cold. But then he got in, and my dad went in with him and showed him how to kick his legs to swim, and I went in with him and said a few things about how you have to get your arms and legs working together so you can keep your head out of the water. And there was a little kids pool, about the size of an outdoor jacuzzi, that only went up to his waist when he was stood up, and he started doing one stroke across it, then a couple. And eventually he was swimming across the surface to chase a ball that had gotten away from him. He's a natural at it, I guess.
My ON wasn't quite as natural at it - he pretty much kept his armbands on most of the holiday. But then he started going in the big pool without them on, and I decided to take him out to the deep end, minus armbands, and with his permission (and mum and dad's) just let him go for a minute, to show him what it's actually like while I was there to get him out. He kept joking about it afterwards, so I'm not sure he got the point - he looked genuinely surprised and troubled when I told him drowning wasn't just about getting water up your nose, it could kill you - but it was the most I could do I think. And his achievement really I suppose was that he was too afraid to go on the waterslides at the beginning of the holiday, and by the end he wouldn't stay off them.
And overall, the two of them were pretty well-behaved. Again, it was variable, and we had a few spats, but generally the threat of not having an ice-cream or a slush drink was enough to sway things. I was meant to be sharing a room with my ON, while my mum, dad and MN had the adjoining room. But the night we got there we found that the bed they'd provided for my MN was in fact a cot, and too small for him, so he ended up sleeping on a sofa-bed, and after the first night my ON slept there with him. Mealtimes were difficult, since there wasn't much either of them would eat, and they got bored waiting for us to finish. But after dinner there was a children's disco and then a show every night, so we always had plenty to do every night with them. I had to duck out a few times just to have some alone time, but generally it was fine, and the kids liked it. And when that was done we just had to entertain ourselves in our rooms. Mum and dad would have liked to get them to sleep, but they both wanted to stay up, they were prepared to run around screaming to make that happen, and our rooms were right over the mid-level bar, so there was always loads of noise until 1am anyway. Let's just say that we played more games of Connect Four than I think we've ever played otherwise. We were having championships and grudge matches. Mostly it was difficult for my MN, because he didn't seem to get the concept of 'getting four in a row', or only putting in one counter per turn. But he enjoyed playing my mum because he thought she might let him win. So overall a good time was had by all.
And they were both pretty good on the planes, or not as bad as they could have been at least. We thought my MN might be the most scared of flying, because he doesn't like loud noises, but he sat with my dad on the way going and was fine. Whereas my ON said he was fine, kept making nervous-sounding jokes about how the plane might crash, then said he was scared, then when the plane was taking off tried to cheer with the other kids, but then started crying as the ground got further and further away. He said he wasn't going to get the plane on the way back, and then he said the same thing a few days later, and for a while I thought we were going to have to use Mr T style tactics to get him home. But when we were coming back, he was a bit scared, and mum and I told him it would be fine, and that he'd been scared on the first plane and it had been fine, and that air hostesses and stewards flew day after day after day and were fine, and when the plane took off he didn't cry at all, and he was okay for the rest of the flight. I guess it must be pretty trippy to have always been on the ground, and then to suddenly literally see it get further and further below your feet. Although my MN was fine. But overall, I think they got used to it, and would probably do fine on another flight if we took them again. Although my MN said he didn't want to come with us again, because the waiting around during dinner part was 'too boring'. So we'll see. But I think they could cope with planes now, at least.
So yes. Now I'm home. And glad to be home. Like I said, it was nice, but I'm glad we only went for a week and not any longer. The weather surprised me by actually being hot today - after spending the week in Malaga I thought even sunny weather would feel ice-cold on my skin - but at least I'm not slathering suntan lotion on every time I leave the house. Hurrah.
And I did have a plan to not do anything much today. But I ended up going to the doctor's to get a sick note, getting some toothpaste and Welcome To The Punch on DVD, and finished the night by catching up completely on Coronation Street with my parents. So. I have things to say about Coronation Street, but some of it is long, some of it is just about how beautiful David is, and some of it is just keysmashing, so I'll maybe leave it for another night. Oh, and also I came home to a letter yesterday saying that they'd set a date for my ESA hearing. 27th September. So I can look forward to that. Yay.
I hope you have all been great, I've sort of caught up on my flist, but not on everything. If there is anything vital you think I should know you should probably tell me now. Otherwise, hello.
Mostly, I'm not sure I'm cut out for holidays at the moment. Because when I go on planes, I worry about getting DVTs, and when I'm in bright sunshine, I worry about getting sunburn and then eventually skin cancer. My mum said we couldn't leave our balcony doors open because of my mosquitoes, and I started worrying about malaria, and we had a lot of rich food and sweets and ice-creams and stuff, and I started worrying about diabetes. Add to that having two small children, 8 and 5, to look after - and to worry about THEM getting sunburn because I was hogging the shade or getting malaria - and my anxiety levels were pretty high throughout a lot of the holiday. And then on the last day, my overtired MN threw himself to the ground in a tantrum, and accidentally smacked his head on a wall, so I got to worry about making him go on a plane with a possible head injury. Fun times.
But apart from that, it was pretty lovely. Well, the fairest thing I can say about it was that it was variable. The hotel was lovely, but we were on the South coast of Spain, and the weather was scorching. For a few days at the beginning of the holiday we had a bit of cloud cover every now and then in the morning, and for one glorious afternoon it was overcast, but other than that, it was just sunshine. Like a laserbeam. We were in a hotel a way outside Benalmedina, so we had to get the bus when we wanted to go into town, and we tried it one day and I think I nearly passed out. To be fair, I hadn't put any suncream on, so I was keeping my linen jacket on for the sake of my shoulders everywhere we went, but. It was SO hot. And the kids didn't care, they just kept running round and round, wanting to do things and go to new places. asdjkdak.
But eventually, we got into the hang of things. We resigned ourselves to the fact that just staying by the pool was probably the best option most days, and my dad started getting down to the sunbeds early to find us some good spots with a lot of shade, and a couple of umbrellas. After a few days of putting on suncream and going a bit red anyway, I started just putting some Factor 50 we had on, so I stopped worrying about getting sunburned. We were all-inclusive, so we didn't have to worry about buying drinks and stuff, and the food was really good. And the kids loved the pool, and made a few friends they could play with while they were there. So it sort of evened itself out after a bit. I have to say though that I am glad we went for a week, and not 2 weeks. Or 10 days even.
And other than that there were just a few things. Like the fact that not all the waiters in the restaurant could speak English. And I know it's a fairly self-centred thing to expect, but mum told me Benalmedina was a really touristy place, and we went with Jet2 on a package holiday, so I just sort of assumed they would. And when we were having problems, they never went to get a waiter who spoke English, they just repeated things in Spanish. I think if I hadn't done a GCSE in Spanish and didn't still remember bits of it, it would have been a bit difficult for us all. Likewise, the people who ran the kids club didn't really speak English, so my nephews didn't really enjoy it so much. My ON did go a few times, and enjoyed it, when he'd made a few friends who spoke English there, but my MN wouldn't go. And there were a few problems between my nephews and some of the other kids there who didn't speak English, because when there was an issue they couldn't argue properly, so it descended into violence pretty quickly. And my nephews are always quite ready for things to descend into violence. Before an argument has even begun sometimes. But overall we sort of managed with everything, and when we got used to doing the same things every day we ran into less problems. It's fair enough really, I suppose, Spain is a foreign country and we don't speak the language. We just weren't really expecting it.
But we did have a lot of lovely times there. When we went into town the first time, we went to the Sealife Centre, and my nephews actually enjoyed for a while I think, before they started just running around. They both really loved the pool, and as far as I can tell my MN taught himself to swim over the course of the week. He'd been to a couple of swimming lessons before the holiday, but had just messed about and then had to stop for some reason. At the beginning of the holiday he didn't even want to get in the water because it was too cold. But then he got in, and my dad went in with him and showed him how to kick his legs to swim, and I went in with him and said a few things about how you have to get your arms and legs working together so you can keep your head out of the water. And there was a little kids pool, about the size of an outdoor jacuzzi, that only went up to his waist when he was stood up, and he started doing one stroke across it, then a couple. And eventually he was swimming across the surface to chase a ball that had gotten away from him. He's a natural at it, I guess.
My ON wasn't quite as natural at it - he pretty much kept his armbands on most of the holiday. But then he started going in the big pool without them on, and I decided to take him out to the deep end, minus armbands, and with his permission (and mum and dad's) just let him go for a minute, to show him what it's actually like while I was there to get him out. He kept joking about it afterwards, so I'm not sure he got the point - he looked genuinely surprised and troubled when I told him drowning wasn't just about getting water up your nose, it could kill you - but it was the most I could do I think. And his achievement really I suppose was that he was too afraid to go on the waterslides at the beginning of the holiday, and by the end he wouldn't stay off them.
And overall, the two of them were pretty well-behaved. Again, it was variable, and we had a few spats, but generally the threat of not having an ice-cream or a slush drink was enough to sway things. I was meant to be sharing a room with my ON, while my mum, dad and MN had the adjoining room. But the night we got there we found that the bed they'd provided for my MN was in fact a cot, and too small for him, so he ended up sleeping on a sofa-bed, and after the first night my ON slept there with him. Mealtimes were difficult, since there wasn't much either of them would eat, and they got bored waiting for us to finish. But after dinner there was a children's disco and then a show every night, so we always had plenty to do every night with them. I had to duck out a few times just to have some alone time, but generally it was fine, and the kids liked it. And when that was done we just had to entertain ourselves in our rooms. Mum and dad would have liked to get them to sleep, but they both wanted to stay up, they were prepared to run around screaming to make that happen, and our rooms were right over the mid-level bar, so there was always loads of noise until 1am anyway. Let's just say that we played more games of Connect Four than I think we've ever played otherwise. We were having championships and grudge matches. Mostly it was difficult for my MN, because he didn't seem to get the concept of 'getting four in a row', or only putting in one counter per turn. But he enjoyed playing my mum because he thought she might let him win. So overall a good time was had by all.
And they were both pretty good on the planes, or not as bad as they could have been at least. We thought my MN might be the most scared of flying, because he doesn't like loud noises, but he sat with my dad on the way going and was fine. Whereas my ON said he was fine, kept making nervous-sounding jokes about how the plane might crash, then said he was scared, then when the plane was taking off tried to cheer with the other kids, but then started crying as the ground got further and further away. He said he wasn't going to get the plane on the way back, and then he said the same thing a few days later, and for a while I thought we were going to have to use Mr T style tactics to get him home. But when we were coming back, he was a bit scared, and mum and I told him it would be fine, and that he'd been scared on the first plane and it had been fine, and that air hostesses and stewards flew day after day after day and were fine, and when the plane took off he didn't cry at all, and he was okay for the rest of the flight. I guess it must be pretty trippy to have always been on the ground, and then to suddenly literally see it get further and further below your feet. Although my MN was fine. But overall, I think they got used to it, and would probably do fine on another flight if we took them again. Although my MN said he didn't want to come with us again, because the waiting around during dinner part was 'too boring'. So we'll see. But I think they could cope with planes now, at least.
So yes. Now I'm home. And glad to be home. Like I said, it was nice, but I'm glad we only went for a week and not any longer. The weather surprised me by actually being hot today - after spending the week in Malaga I thought even sunny weather would feel ice-cold on my skin - but at least I'm not slathering suntan lotion on every time I leave the house. Hurrah.
And I did have a plan to not do anything much today. But I ended up going to the doctor's to get a sick note, getting some toothpaste and Welcome To The Punch on DVD, and finished the night by catching up completely on Coronation Street with my parents. So. I have things to say about Coronation Street, but some of it is long, some of it is just about how beautiful David is, and some of it is just keysmashing, so I'll maybe leave it for another night. Oh, and also I came home to a letter yesterday saying that they'd set a date for my ESA hearing. 27th September. So I can look forward to that. Yay.
I hope you have all been great, I've sort of caught up on my flist, but not on everything. If there is anything vital you think I should know you should probably tell me now. Otherwise, hello.
