The best thing about summer leave is, of course, seeing family and friends, and this year, more than any other, I’ve marvelled at how certain members of my tribe are becoming super fit. There’s my sister-in-law who went for a bike ride, and can now do 60 miles from London to Cambridge, and my cousin, who’s doing a triathlon this weekend.
But for us expat mummies, it’s not so easy over the summer, is it? Aside from being ‘on the road’ for 6 weeks or more escaping the Dubai heat, there’s the small matter of all that good food in your home country, the shelves of wine in the supermarket and the ‘holiday’ treats you deserve because you’re solo with the kids.
So, I’ve been having a little think, about some of the endurance contests that expat mums across the world are competing in this summer, so we can pat ourselves on the back too.
Ready, steady….GO:
Pole-position passport queuing: With a child desperate for a wee
Sprint to the toilets: Before the inevitable
The bath-book-bed triathlon: With wide-awake time travellers
The time zone leap: No napping
The sweat-athon (in a British heat wave): Where will you hide?
The cross-country: How many relatives / landmarks / toilets can you visit en-route?
Team-member down: When DH breaks away from the pack and streaks to the finish line a month before you
The last hurdle
The stamina test: After 5 weeks of children’s activities, August shows up with a wry smile and a “So, how will you entertain ’em for ANOTHER FIVE WEEKS?”
Hitting the wall: How long until the noisy / messy / hazardous things our offspring do to fill their days get too much?
14-hour cycle: Two weeks to go and too tired to go anywhere, the 14-hour cycle of front garden, back garden, side garden kicks in
The home straight: Just THE PACKING still to do [shudders]
Crossing the finish: And time to play beat-the-body-clock again
Good luck everyone – bonus points for putting petrol in yourself.
Love it and so true!
Thank you K!
I don’t know if this happens as often going between Dubai and Europe, but since most of our travels are in Asia- often to 3rd-world countries-, we have all developed advanced methods of coping with sudden GI distress in flight. (and one of us can even fashion an adult diaper out of toilet paper.) We are also quite good at the Immigration Sprint, practically running past our fellow de-planing travelers in the attempt to avoid being stuck at the back of the queue.
Those are great skills to have! x