#like YES part of it is the culture surrounding fish as ‘easy pets’

[mayonaisalspray]

Once you care even a little bit about proper fish care the way you see people treat them becomes maddening

[melsie-sims]

This challenge was originally created by Melsie-Sims on January 11th, 2021. Please use the #Among Us Challenge tag to share your progress! This challenge is inspired by the Human Enough Challenge by the wonderful @squeamishsims​! It’s meant to be a longer challenge spanning at least two generations so buckle up! 

To take part you will need Get to Work installed, as your main character will be an alien sim. Other useful (but not mandatory) packs include: City Living, Parenthood, Strangerville and University. Your challenge can be as story-driven as you wish, or not at all. The rules definitely allow some creative freedom. 

In the Among Us Challenge, your alien sim starts out on an empty residential lot of your choosing. The general premise is that their rocket ship crashed on Earth and they are now stranded, without the ability to communicate with their home-world.

With their rocket ship completely destroyed, they must adapt to their strange new surroundings and blend in with the townies. No one can know there is an alien among them.

Create an Alien in CAS and make them a Young Adult.

Their human disguise can have as many outfits as you’d like. Your alien’s natural form is only allowed to wear the alien bodysuit from Get to Work. Please use it for every outfit category. If you have custom content for alien suits feel free to use them. 

You have the choice between five aspirations: Friend of the World, Renaissance Sim, Soulmate, Successful Lineage or The Curator. Choose wisely because you’ll have to complete the aspiration for the challenge!

You must have aging on, but feel free to play on either Normal or Long lifespan. You can even edit your lifespan using MCCC if you’d like.

Start off on an empty lot. You can choose one from any world, but please be aware that you cannot move lots for the duration of the challenge.

Go into build mode and purchase the rocket ship (Steampunk Flyamajig) for 5,000 simoleons. It’s the only item you’re allowed to start with.

Once you’ve done that, use the cheat “money 0”. Oh yes, it’s that kind of challenge. You’ll have to make money by any means possible... but no cheating!

Now you’re good to go! 

Your alien cannot start rebuilding their rocket ship until they have 10,000 simoleons, handiness level 5, logic level 3 and programming level 3. It might take a while so they better make themselves comfortable... They’re stuck on this planet, they have no way to communicate with Sixam and they don’t have the parts to fix their damaged ship. It isn’t ideal, but their only option is to try and make a life for themselves here until they can go home.

Your alien sim cannot wear their disguise and may only use mean interactions with other sims until they reach charisma level 3. They just crash landed on a strange planet. They don’t know anything about the inhabitants. They are confused and scared. They must figure out the language and culture of Sims before they can properly assimilate.

Your alien sim can only eat quick meals until they’ve reached either gardening level 2 or fishing level 2. The quick meals are meant to be dehydrated food packets native to Sixam, which your alien scavenged from their ship. They don’t know if the food on this planet will be harmful to them. They must do research to find out.

If another sim sees your alien without their disguise, you must either erase their memory... or kill them. It’s your choice which of the two options you pick. Regardless, your alien’s identity must remain safe at all costs.

Your sim may reveal their alien identity to another sim without any consequences once they’ve become Good Friends with them. Be careful, if the relationship bar goes down too much they may become a threat to your alien’s safety. If the relationship goes below the Good Friends range, your alien will have to eliminate them. They’ve known your alien’s secret for too long. Their memory can no longer be modified without doing serious psychological damage. 

Please note, the above rule is actually from SqueamishSims’ Human Enough Challenge. I just loved it too much not to include it here!

Your alien sim can travel to lots in their own world, but if they want to go somewhere else they will have to pay 50 simoleons per visit. They don’t have the means to travel around! They must purchase a bus ticket or pay someone for a lift if they want to travel to other worlds.

Your alien can change out of their space suit and wear regular clothes when they’ve made their first 1,000 simoleons and reached level 3 of logic. At this point, feel free to give your alien a makeover. You can change outfits whenever you want after that without any limitations.

Your alien cannot have walls or floors anywhere on their lot until they’ve reached handiness level 3 and paid a property tax fee of 5,000 simoleons. They can only have one room to start off with. Your alien is starting from nothing and building from the ground up. They don’t have access to a contractor and need to learn about sims architecture.

For every extra room (i.e. a bathroom or a bedroom) your sim must pay 1,000 simoleons. Please subtract from your household funds using the “money #” cheat. Home-owning is expensive! Your alien sim is learning that the hard way! 

Your alien cannot use romance interactions until they’re at charisma level 5 and they have three Good Friends. At this point, your alien sim is probably still under the impression that they’ll be flying back home very soon. They’re hesitant to pursue a relationship with a human if it isn’t meant to last... 

Your alien can also be part of clubs when they’ve reached charisma level 5 and made three Good Friends. At least one of those friends must be part of the club your alien wishes to create/join. These sims know your alien inside and out and would protect them with their lives. They’re good people to have around.

Your sim cannot have a proper job until they reach charisma level 6 as well as handiness level 3 and logic level 3. This includes part-time jobs, odd jobs and freelance gigs. If your alien hardly has any social skills, how are they supposed to know how the economy works?  

Your alien can only get engaged/married once they’ve reached charisma level 8, logic level 5, rocket science level 3 and have three separate rooms in their house (see above for the house-building rules). Your alien is beginning to realize this might be a bit more permanent than they originally thought. They’re finally allowing themselves to fall in love and imagine the possibility of settling down.

Bonus: If you have City Living, your alien must attend the Romance Festival to learn more about the odd social construct that is marriage.

Have your spouse join either the scientist, secret agent, tech guru, astronaut, politician or military career. They’ve made it their mission in life to protect your alien sim and help keep their secret safe from potential foes. However, the new job comes at a cost.

Your alien sim is now on the government’s radar. They have a chance of getting imprisoned by scientists or S.I.M.S. agents! If your alien sim encounters a scientist, secret agent, politician or military staff you must imprison them in a 4x6 cell on your lot. Inside you may place the cheapest toilet, refrigerator, single bed and sink. They must remain there until their spouse has paid 10,000 simoleons for your alien’s safe return... and murdered the abductor(s) responsible. As this particular rule is a bit more dramatic, it’s totally OPTIONAL!

Your alien sim has to have charisma level 9, rocket science level 5, parenting level 3 and cooking level 3 before they/their partner can become pregnant. They must also have a proper kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom and nursery/toddler room. They must be on level 3 of their chosen career. Making a baby is the easy part. Being a parent is hard work, and your alien sim needs to be prepared!

If you have risky woohoo enabled and your alien and/or their partner becomes pregnant before meeting the requirements, please deduct 5,000 simoleons from your household funds. If you don’t have enough, sell items in your home until you’ve paid off your debt. Welcome to parenthood!

At least one child must be conceived in the rocket ship. You can’t have a challenge focusing on aliens without some rocket ship woohoo! Come on now!

Have your alien return to Sixam with their offspring, but only for a visit. They’ve spent such a long time on another planet and have built so many good relationships. They’ve decided they want to stay. 

Note: Your alien may have to return to Sixam a few times to obtain collectibles as those are part of the challenge.

To complete the challenge, one of your alien’s children must be a Young Adult. You can age up your toddlers when all of their skills are at level 3. You can age up your children and teens when they have an A in school.

Bonus: Send one of your alien sim’s children to university so that they can get a proper human education. It’s not actually part of the challenge. You’ll just have bragging rights. 

You can use reward potions and traits, including the Potion of Youth. You can use lot traits. Once you’ve unlocked the ability to join clubs, you can benefit from their bonuses. Is the challenge too hard? Are you struggling? Hahaha good!

Have fun! Feel free to @ me if you’re posting this challenge on Tumblr or making a YouTube series, I’d love to see it! You can follow me on Twitter or support me on Ko-Fi if you’d like. No pressure!

You’ve completed the challenge when...

Your alien has maxed out three different skills. One of them must be rocket science.

Your alien has at least 5 Good Friends, not including their children. Their spouse does count toward the total! Pets do not count!

They’ve completed their aspiration.

They’ve “repaired” their rocket ship.

They’ve been married and had offspring. At least one child must be conceived in the rocket ship.

They have a home worth 60,000 simoleons.

They have a top secret alien lab in their basement.

In the alien lab you must have at least one fang flower, one glow orb, one quill fruit, one unidentified fruit object, one blutonium, one solarium, one crandestine and one nitelite.

One of the children of your alien has grown into a young adult and visited Sixam to learn about their parent’s world.

If your alien passes away before completing all of the objectives, it’s up to their offspring to complete the rest of the challenge. 

[miss-choco-chips]

Brother

The journey from Vodka Aunt to Wine Mom starts with Scottish coffee.

Or, Nicole totally thought this through, shut up Janet.

----.----

Nicole had believed -she had believed it would be… not easy, but easier than it had been, for Janet. She had been blindsided, after all, and completely out of her depth. Nicole, as she was now, had a good amount of practice under her belt- almost thirteen years of it. She shouldn’t be as clumsy about this as Jan had been, those first few weeks of Tim’s life.

In any other world, she would have been indifferent to the wounds, the verbal abuse, the disdain and blatant use of an innocent and manipulable mind. But here, now, she had been an aunt- a godmother, for almost thirteen years. Maybe it was Timmy’s kindness, absorbed into her bones via osmosis, maybe it was the maternal instinct Janet sometimes complained took over her life at irregular intervals to make her a better mother, maybe it was because he reminded her so much of her godson… but she just couldn’t stand it.

So she gathered her resources, called in a couple favors, took the child and disappeared into the night. That part was easy; Talia might be stronger, physically speaking, but Nicole’s mind could moon-walk circles around hers all day long.

But, what now? Back in Gotham as per her plan, where Talia couldn’t just waltz in and do as she wished without an angry bat breathing down her neck, but totally fucking lost as to what her next steps should be.

So she goes to Janet. If years of friendship aren’t enough to get her to help, she could always remind her of how it was thanks to Nicole’s contacts that she got Shiva as Tim’s self-defense teacher.

The bitch owes her.

----.----

Tim isn’t worried, exactly, when aunt Nicole power-walks into the tea room where mother and son are having breakfast -much more cozy than the dining room- and smiles tersely, asking if she could have a word with Janet. 

He is, though, when she asks him to leave the room. Because never before has Nicole cared that Tim heard what she talked with mom, be it a complain about some mutual acquaintance or some confidential information from one of her cases.

He leaves, of course, because he respects her enough, but sends one not-actually-scared -but-close-enough look at his mother on the way out.

The second the door is closed, he can hear Nicole blurting something out, and the deafening sound of a teacup crashing into the floor. He rushes his steps, stopping by his room to grab his camera before going outside. He doesn’t want to be there for the fall out, if mom’s initial reaction was to lose her grip on her cup. Maybe he should call uncle Lex, get a little vacation outside the city (and line of fire).

He’s entertaining the thoughts of asking for a lift via Lex Corp special jet towards Paris vs Japan, when he sees the kid sitting under his favorite tree.

He approaches, curious and tentative, and the kid looks up to him when he gets within arm distance (doesn’t look surprised, like he knew Tim was there all along). The moment he sees him clearly, though, Tim freezes.

The shape of his eyes. The color of his hair. The ears, the contorn of the face, the scowl. His skin might be tanner, and his irises a different tint, but he looks at the kid for less than a second and knows, without a doubt, that he’s looking at Bruce Wayne’s son. 

His heart might have stopped, but the mind is a wonderful thing that never stops working, and the next order of business is figuring out who the mother is. He remembers Nicole’s tight face, her venomous green eyes almost equal to this kid’s, and… Yeah, okay, so this is also Talia Al Ghul’s spawn. What the hell was Bruce thinking? Does Dick know? Does Bruce know?

-Stop looking at me like a buffon, or I’ll have your eyes removed -speaks up the kid, and Tim’s mind reminds him that, yeah, he isn’t looking at a picture, but a real, breathing human being. A six-or-seven year old being, despite his speech.

Manners kicking to the forefront of his head, he crouches down in front of the kid, camera dangling from his neck, all but forgotten by its owner for maybe the first time ever.

-Hey there. My name is Timothy Drake -he smiles, hand offered with kindness, but eyes sharp as he keeps on inspecting the face in front of his. That, and his name, seems to immediately change the kid’s opinion of him, because his eyes widen and he’s quick to return the greeting.

Aunt Nicole must have said something to him about Tim and his special position as Janet Drake’s son, because when the kid shakes his hand (calloused, with more than one scar, probably more used at handling a weapon than Tim is going to be at the end of his life), he’s being almost comically careful about it, as if he’s unsure about how much to squeeze or shake without hurting him. Nicole probably stressed into him about Tim being delicate and how he should handle him with care, which, bullshit, he’s not a baby anymore, not like this kid.

-I see. I’ve heard about you a lot from Aunt during my travels here. My name is Ibn al Xu’ffasch.

Tim blinks twice, smile firmly in place, hand holding lightly into the kid’s. There’s something ridiculous about Bruce’s kid literally being called ‘Son of the bat’.

-...my other name is Damian, Damian Al Ghul.

-I see. Which one do you prefer? 

This seems to baffle the kid, though he recovers quickly. Has anyone ever asked him for his preference on something as personal as his name?- You may address me as Damian.

-Okay then, Damian. I was going to go around the property for a walk, take some picture of animals. Why don’t you come with me? You can also tell me a little about yourself. With Nicole as your Aunt, we are sure to meet often.

----.----

-So you just… took the kid and ran.

-No, I had a well thought plan. And I didn’t ran. That’s undignified.

-Really, now.

-I couldn’t just leave him, Jan. He’s six.

-He’s a genetically engineered baby trained since birth by your psychotic sister in how to be a perfect killing machine. Excuse me if I think he can handle himself. But whatever, what’s done is done. What are you going to do now?

-I… I kinda hoped you’d tell me. 

-...I’ll tell the butler to prepare refreshments. This is going to be a long talk.

-Vodka?

-It’s nine in the morning, you unclassy fool. We are having Scottish coffee. Besides, you acquired a child, you can’t be the vodka aunt any longer. If anything, be the wine mom.

-No, I’m not adopting this kid. Rip to Bruce, but I’m not like him.

-Well, I’m not doing it for you either.

-I’m not asking that! I plan on giving him to his dad to look after, but he’s too…

-Murderous?

-...yeah, that. I’m going to try to ease him into normal society as much as I can before calling Wayne, to prevent a full blown out culture shock.

-This is Gotham, dear. You want normal society, go to Metropolis. But sure, I’ll help you with this. You might have to move into the Manor for a few weeks, though. Also, you are lucky Tim is on break right now, his innate kindness might help in this. But if your demonic nephew touches a single hair in Tim’s head, I’m throwing him to the sharks.

-Are you talking about reporters, the League of Assassins, or actual sharks?

-Yes.

----.----

Tim snaps a quick pic when the kid isn’t looking, because this is precious. 

Damian had been a proud little prick at first, refusing to show the interest shining in his eyes towards the multiple animals Tim introduced him to. But by the time they left behind the horse (the one Lex gave him on his tenth birthday), birds and fishes on the property’s pond, and moved into Tim’s pets, he had left his facade behind and did his best to pet every animal at the same time. He couldn’t, of course, didn’t have enough hands for all two cats, the dog and the bunny, but by god he tried. 

Sel, the female cat, had taken residence on the kid’s shoulders, lounging there like an Empress, judging them all from above (or as above as she could be, perched on such a small kid that was sitting down to boot). Her partner in crime and life, Alley, rubbed his head under Tim’s chin, comfortable in his human’s arms. 

Then, Max, his Golden Retriever dog. He was a sweetheart, and had charmed Damian in less than a minute, greeting him with enthusiastic licks at his hands and a furiously quick tail moving side to side. Damian had been blindsided by the utter cuteness of the dog immediately falling in love with him, and had responded in kind, dedicating almost half an hour to dote on him alone.

Now, almost two hours after meeting the kid, Tim couldn’t help but snap another picture of Damian, sitting on the ground in front of Tim, one hand petting Max who had laid by his side, the other one carefully stroking Butter the Bunny’s head while he rests on his lap. Sel occasionally nudges her head against his cheek to demand for attention, that he gladly provides, and everything seems out of a Disney movie.

He knows this kid is dangerous. Because he is Nicole’s relative, because his eyes are always scanning their surroundings for threats, because his hand is the hand of a warrior. 

But he looks up at Tim when Sel gives a tiny lick to his check, looking as if he’d been blessed by the Kitten Gods and needs guidance on the appropriate response, and Tim thinks he could overlook the danger. God knows everyone is afraid of Mom, and that doesn’t stop Tim from kissing her cheek and hugging her at least once per day. 

This kid deserves love, too, and he always wanted a sibling.

[inspired-birth-co-blog]

For the ‘Wanderlust’ Parent

So, if you’ve been following me for awhile, or if you are a friend or family member of mine, you would probably know by now that I love to travel. Sione (my husband) has been a man who loves staying in his comfort zone, slowly, I have warmed him to the idea of travelling and exploring the world. (This has been a real effort for me because if you know my husband, he has a real chill personality, so like his personality, he is actually one to just want to “chill” and relax at home, or fishing, or kick it at the local beach. *Boring* So… because he is married to me and has lived with me for awhile now, he has grown to love travelling as much as I have :D *winning!*

So with that in mind, we have made it an annual thing for our little family to always travel every year to create the best memories for our children (annnd to give ourselves a bit of a break from reality, because lets face it, we love rewarding ourselves when we work hard ;) *Chocolate included*

We have travelled since our babies have been, well, babies. We have been blessed to see the likes of Samoa, Hawaii, Bali - Indonesia, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Whitsundays and constant visits to NZ & Interstate trips to Syd & Melb. Oh and how could I forget Camping! We love camping!

I looooove looking back on our photos of a holiday. It motivates us more to make use of the time we have with each other and to switch away from everything and everyone and just enjoy the culture, the surroundings and of course the food!

Sooo.. I wanted to put together a few things I do to organise myself when travelling with kids. (Because seriously, sometimes even travelling can feel like a chore rather than an actual holiday) So I wanted to share my secrets on how I actually genuinely enjoy a good holiday with my children. 

Yep here come the bullet points, to break it down for ya’ll. (In no particular order)

- Lists! ALWAYS write out a list. From the day you book to the hour before you board the plane/ship - Check that list!. Write a list of all things you need to pack, get done, clean, organise, purchase before going away. Nothing like being on holiday and stressing that you didn’t pack something important or didnt organise a sitter for your pet at home. 

- Dose your kids up with immunity boosters. Yep, from vitamins B,C,D (If you feel like, try the whole alphabet) I have some great herbal meds and supplements that I rely heavily on that has ALWAYS come through for me. Why dose the kids up you ask? Well, the last thing you want whilst on holiday is a sick kid, or an extra extra sick kid for that matter, where you have to visit the hospital countless times (I have learnt this the hard way unfortunately) When you see me travelling, no lies, I pack my whole medicine cupboard. I’m a bit of a natural med freak so I pack my essential oils, herbal concoctions, supplements and probiotics. Of course, I have the handy back up of panadol. (when its’ really needed). The oils I use are amazing, and carry such a strong effect on all of us. Applying on specific parts of the body for specific oils make such a difference! Boosting the immunity helps the immune system tackle whatever is coming its way. So if you’re prepared, then once you are giving your children all the best things to make the immune system strong, their little bodies can overcome anything. 

- And with that note of sickness and children. I ALWAYS book travel insurance, I head to ‘compare the market’ and flick through travel insurers that suit us the best (depending on where we are travelling) Travel insurance has given me so much sense of security and a sense of comfort knowing I have a back up IF something was to go wrong. So don’t pass up on travel insurance, especially if you have kids. Better to be safe, than sorry.

- Pack that front pack!  I carried my son in my front pack EVERYWHERE. To the point where I would feel drops of sweat dropping onto my belly from my chest. It saved my life though. The carrier I had supported my lower and upper back and gave me two hands to do things with. So on top of carrying suitcases, checking in at the counter and going to the toilet, I actually lost kilo’s from exercising with my son strapped to my chest and having nowhere to go. (I did this with my son until he was 2 and a half, then I gave it up, as he obviously was getting too big for it, I was in denial that he was growing out of it, that’s how much I loved it!) ~ {We had the Ergo Baby which not only fit me, but also fit my Tongan husband}

- Now I’m still learning with this one, but learn how to pack light. I feel it so necessary to pack my children’s whole wardrobe in a suitcase. After going away on a week cruise, I am NEVER packing the way I pack again. Strictly, an outfit per day. And if for whatever reason, your kid decides to rub chocolate on their shirt or poop through to their pants, then use a piece of clothing you have packed. Its’ not the end of the world, because you know what, it takes 45mins tops, to wash clothing and dry clothing at the hotel you are staying in or at the local laundromat. And then taaa-daaahh you have clean clothes for your kids for the next day. If you’re travelling to an island, even better, your kids are going to live in their swim suit (TRUST ME) so pack light! I plan an outfit a day, with a back up jacket and long pants with a pair of socks, if it gets chilly. (depending where you’re travelling) I just find that on some trips, I come back with clothes that my children didn’t wear. Waste of space. So learn to pack light.

- Hotels. I have always found it necessary to book the best hotels wherever we travel too. I think having a good nights sleep in a clean, airy room is always winning for me. Also consider, existing health concerns, like asthma and being stuck in a dusty room, where you’ll know a asthma attack is brewing. (Trust me, been there, done that) So read the reviews, research and study it, and I mean thoroughly, research and read all reviews on a hotel before booking. People will give their honest opinion on a room. Whether it was dirty upon arrival, dusty, musty, appliances not working, air con not working etc.. You need to be in the loop. I look on all known websites to compare the prices on the room of our liking and if you can, (this is a bonus and I always look out for this) try and book a room where it comes with breakfast included! This is the best, not only do you save money on your daily budget (more on that in my next bullet point) but you also get to feed your kids in the one location without stressing out on finding a place to eat early in the morning while the kids are moaning that they’re hungry. Its also financially better for you if the breakfast is buffet ;) 

- My fave. Keeping to a daily budget on spending. Sooo, on every trip we go on, I have a daily spend for the 4 of us - this includes, food and drinks. It’s good to calculate this way before actually going on the holiday as you have a fair idea on how much you would actually spend per day. If you know the currency exchange rates and know the prices of food (roughly) at the destination, then you’re in luck, budgeting will be so very easy! This is where my bullet point 1 comes into play as well, with keeping a list, I have a list on my phone on how much I will spend, and on what I will spend on. Say for example we plan to check out the markets - I will have cost for petrol or taxi/uber fee, cost for shopping and most importantly cost for lunch and drinks (I try to buy a bulk amount of water and keep refrigerated in hotel fridge - good way of saving money, check if hotel has a water filter, just pack empty bottles for the kids. I also pack my own snacks in check in luggage - packets of chips, sultanas, nuts, muesli bars etc, this helps with hungry hungry children during the day) - we have never had a problem with taking snacks via our check in luggage. Make sure you declare all food, depending on where you’re travelling too.

- Find a trustworthy Children’s club at the destination. A lot of resorts hold a kids club and Cruiselines hold a great kids club too. The kids club was so much more than just dropping your kid off and saying ‘See you never”, the children have the best interaction with their leaders and other kids. The activities are educational, fun and exciting and during the time the kids are in their club, mum & dad (yes, us,) get to reconnect and enjoy a beverage by the water and actually feel human again. Some destinations, will not have a kids club available, and hey that’s okay! A day out is more than enough to exhaust the child out or to add many stories for the child to tell their friends back home. Make sure you plan an agenda on things to do for the kids. Make note of what is around the surrounding areas, organise a budget for activities for the kids and read reviews on what it’s like (ie, theme parks, pools, beaches etc) You can actually find a lot of pages on Facebook and Google on a certain destination and read up on all the tips you need to know about a certain place. The information is endless. 

- Entering a third world country.  So we have been fortunate enough to travel to the pacific islands and to Bali Indonesia. These places are considered third world purely because of hygienic and economic reasons. Upon leaving Australia to Samoa, I packed a separate bag for hygienic purposes - Sanitizers, alcohol wipes, mosquito repellent, insect lotions, like seriously, the works! I went all out. So once we arrived there, I was on top of it. I would spray the kids down three hourly, apply lotions day and night, give them hand sanitizer before eating anything or even in the in-between moments and I would dose them up on probiotics from the food they would eat on a daily. I would have them keep a bottle of water in the bathroom, and have, not just the kids (but all of us) brush our teeth with bottled water, drink only bottled water and wash hands with bottled water. I did the same with Bali and stopped the kids from eating any type of food that needed to be washed by water - apples, strawberries, salads etc.. I was super strict and boy am I glad, my kids and I enjoyed a holiday where we didn’t have any nasty tummy bugs on both trips. Hmm you must be thinking, I’m one of THOSE mums, well, yeah I am lol and I’m super okay with that. It seems like a lot, and a major worry to be on top of things like this, but I’m one of those paranoid mothers, who just needs to avoid any nasties coming our way, especially my children. I cannot stand feeling helpless when they’re sick. So how I justify it, is if I could prevent any sickness from entering my family, I know that I’ve done my job as a mother. 

- Now less serious stuff. It’s always a great idea to pack electronics for the kids to remain occupied on the plane. Fill the iPad or laptop with your kids favourite movies and shows. I almost always, pay the extra for in flight entertainment as it’s easier for me to just hop on board and be given an iPad as oppose to actually taking ours as it’s another thing to look after. I like to pack activity books and colouring in books for my kids. Stickers are great! You can utilise these as a reward. And snacks! Snacks always work a treat for us! 

- Also, I’m not sure if you all experience this but my children (and myself included - im probably the worst to get this) sore blocked ears. It is excruciating! I pack honey sucking lollipops for my kids (you can purchase these from Flannerys Health Food store) and also carry on essential oils. I use Melaleuca (Tea Tree Oil) on the muscle behind the ear that leads down to the neck. I massage in a downward stroke on both sides as this relieves the tension that is building up to the blockage of the ear. I also sniff the oil which helps with a potential headache from the ear blocking. This oil is my saviour! (Insert hallelujah hands emoji ;) and for those who receive nausea whilst flying, peppermint oil! Rub on tummy and I sniff this as well, and it helps settle the nauseas feeling. For babies I would rub oil under feet as the nerves under the feet connect to our sensory organs, this includes the ears. And for tummy, just an oil rubbing on the tummy.

- Check this out, I came across an article about Plane Pals. A plane pal is an inflatable foot rest that you can take on board and use for children of all ages. I mean, come on, how uncomfortable is it having your child sleeping on our laps with their neck/head scrunched up in so many angles, just to get comfortable. Not forgetting how uncomfortable we are for having our children’s limbs all over us if they’re asleep on the seat beside us. The plane pal helps create like a recliner effect where the kids can lie down without annoying the person beside them. I LOVE IT!! How amazing is this creation, I only wish I knew about this product when we travelled to Hawaii on a 9hr flight. :-/ {www.planepal.com.au} 

Now - Lastly, book and choose your holidays wisely. Nothing like booking a holiday with specials for flights to find out accommodation, transportation, exchange rate is through the roof! You cannot justify a holiday that cost $300 return per passenger to then book $5000 accommodation  and still counting on how much spending money you are planning on taking. This just wouldn’t be fair to you, your children and the whole reason of wanting to go on a holiday. For me, and for many others, i find, a great holiday is a place where the flights are cheap, the food is cheap and basically all rounder the whole trip is cheap. Let’s be real, we want value for our money. The best way to have a ‘cheap’ holiday, is to do so much research on the place you’re going too. Find what works for you and your family. (selling point) If you haven’t done so already, check out a cruise line and book it. The value for your money is incredible! 

Now I hope most of the things I have mentioned in this post are either helpful or informative. You can take what you want from it, as you are the one who knows your child and what works for your family. You also need to think about what works for you as a parent. Now, it sounds like hard work, but what part of parenting isn’t?! And what part of travelling does not consist of hard work? To create a good holiday, we need to be informed, be aware and be open minded for what’s to come (this includes a tantrum on a plane) 

Let’s be honest though, we are never really looking forward to the journey there and back, but whatever you can do to make it comfortable for all, you would want to get your hands on those tips, and it is my pleasure to share with you all, what works for us. 

From one parent to another - just relax. After all, you are on holiday! 

 Shana x