Our long awaited break is finally here. Like most people in the UK it has been a long time since we enjoyed time away from home, a whopping 9 months! We’re not huge travellers but we do regularly visit family and friends and we’ve all missed visiting them. They say that travel broadens the mind and I have to agree, we’ve all been feeling confined to our local area this last year.

We generally start to think about going away in January, it gives us something to look forward to during the dark months, and this year was no exception. We decided to plan for the May half term and booked a week in Southwold, Suffolk. It’s a place we hadn’t been to before but my daughter studied the Anglo Saxons and Sutton Hoo during home learning and we thought it would be a fun place to visit.

It had been a long time since I had to pack for a family holiday and I forgot some important things. I had forgotten how many things my children needed when they are away from home. Not only did they need clean clothes, lots of food and activities to keep them busy, they also pretty much needed a packed First Aid kit! I’ve lost count of the number of cuts and grazes we’ve experienced already and my children seem to have forgotten that scrapes and falls are all part of half-term adventures. So I thought I would share my 5 essentials to pack for half term in the hope it might help other parents out there.

5 essentials to pack for half term

As I was working right up until we went away I totally forgot to pack a First Aid kit. Thankfully we remembered all our essential prescription medication thanks to being able to order online from such places as Oxford Online Pharmacy, but we have a handy First Aid tin which was left at home. My kids seem prone to small cuts and days at the beach quickly resulted in scrapes and cuts which the salty water didn’t help. They are both drama queens so I made a quick trip to stock up games ad non some essentials of Savlon and plasters. Coupled with wet beach shoes rubbing on tired feet and we’ve gone through a whole pack of plasters already!

No mother packs for the beach without making sure the beach wear, towels and sliders are packed. My children love the beach and it’s definitely the cheapest day out. Our beach wear also contains sun protection which has been so useful with the hot weather we’re experiencing. It’s so lovely to see the kids with some colour in their cheeks after a very wet May. Our sun hats and generous dollops of sun tan lotion have kept them safe in the sun.

We’ve all been looking forward to our break for so long that it didn’t take us long to get in holiday mode once we arrived. My son packed a selection of small games which we take out with us when we’re going out for lunch or dinner. At the moment his favourite is a card game called Sussed but also packed Uno and Uno Flip which we all love.

No parent can survive half term without wine. Our holiday cottage is perfectly placed overlooking a small green with views out to sea. It’s the perfect spot to enjoy a glass of wine, or it would be if my children would give my 5 minutes peace! Thankfully Southwold is home to the Adnams brewery so I’ve been able to enjoy some al fresco drinking in the sunshine in between trips to the beach and park.

I often find that I put my children first and forget to pack for myself. Two things I forgot to grab were my sunglasses and a sun hat for myself. The weather has been scorching this week so I really needed these two things. Thankfully I spotted a copy of Tatler in the newsagents with a free pair of sunnies attached. This has made for some fun beach reading and a great pair of glasses too.

 

Hopefully with restrictions lifting it won’t be long until we can get away again and I now have a list of essentials I need for a week away with my family. Let me know if you’ve ever forgotten anything when you’ve been on holiday in the comments below!