Holiday Mood
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I'm on holiday with my son down in Filey on the Yorkshire coast this week, and not feeling remotely inspired to set the world to rights. We had a decent run down in mostly sunshine. Zuma, the dog, didn't puke once, which was a bonus. We stopped off at a McDonalds half way down for a safe early tea and arrived in daylight having enjoyed sea views much of the way down and the Yorshire moors on the last stretch.
I spent today with an old friend from school who popped over the border from Lancashire to see us. My son skipped the socialising and the sunshine, preferring to stay inside at the house while we chatted and walked, along the beach with the dog, and later round Filey. The town turned out to be hosting a steam punk festival today. Very little relation to the actual ‘80's punk we knew in our youth - more goth costume drama than safety pins and spiky hair - but interesting to see and it reminded us of our first gig together, watching the Mission in Manchester.
Now that she's left, I'm sat snuggled with my son on the sofa with YouTube on the TV (someone playing Subnautica). I'm looking out at the blue sky and idly thinking about the park and ice cream literally yards over the road, the beach 10 minutes walk away with mini tanks zipping up and down, the local zoo, Whitby Abbey, Yorkshire air museum, the local shop with a giant Pikachu in the window. There's quite a bit to see.
My son, meanwhile, is focussed on Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, a holiday aquisition. He is grudgingly sharing the only foot stool with me, and asking at 10 minute intervals when it will be time for a chippy. Which I am to go and fetch and bring back to the house.
And I will do that for him. I will let him enjoy his chippy tea without cagoling him out of the house into the glorious May sunshine and sea air. Because this holiday is about being, not doing. Being comfortable. Being relaxed. Being together with no distractions for the rest of the week. Being excited about proper crispy batter instead of the soggy stuff more usual from chippies at home.
I don't know if we'll get out on any of the trips I've suggested, carefully chosen because we can take Zuma. We didn't get out when we came last September. But that's ok. Holidays don't need to be about doing stuff, or seeing stuff. Holidays should not have an agenda. There should be no pressure to ‘have fun'. No stress about ‘fitting everything in', or trying to ‘make’ everyone happy.
Holidays should be about people chilling, doing things they like somewhere a bit different, re-connecting, and enjoying each day as it comes. They should be about recuperating from the mundane stresses in life, filling the resilience tank.
I will relish a week of beach dog walks with Zuma and sofa snuggles with my son. My son is happy somewhere other than within his own four walls and is looking forward to a few chippies with extra crispy batter. Just being together, relaxed and happy, chilling out, makes it worth coming. If I manage to get him out for an ice cream in the next few days, I will count it as a bonus.