Holiday....

So, we finally took the plunge and went on holiday...abroad!

Before Reuben was born, we regularly went on holiday abroad and had a really fab and relaxing time. But, since having Reuben we have been (putting it bluntly) scared.

Reuben is a very complex little boy. He can be very unpredicted in his behaviour which can be highly stressful on both us and him. Routine is a must for Reuben and once we step out of it, our troubles and his begin.

So the very thought of being in a completely different country, having a language barrier and being so far away from home. Not to mention no extra support from family or friends seemed like a trip from hell.

After a lot of thinking and talking, we decided to book a holiday to Tenerife. My husbands parents decided they would come along as well, which made the thought of the holiday a little less terrifying.

Walking into our lovely clean hotel room at midday after being on the go since 4.15am felt fabulous.

We set our cases down, the girls were running around exploring and my husband and I having sat down for a much needed 5 minutes. That was until we looked around to discover, Reuben had disappeared!

That's when we noticed the hotel door standing wide open......

My husband and I both bolted out the door, going in opposite directions and shouting Reuben's name. The girls stayed at the room just in case he was to come running back, they too were shouting his name.

I have never felt so terrified in all my life. My heart was in my throat and I could feel the bile rising. Shouting Reuben's name over and over then listening for his voice whilst running through corridors and up and down steps.

Finally, what felt like a very long time, we could hear him laughing and a Spanish lady talking to him. The Spanish lady turned out to be a cleaner and was trying to ask him where his "Mama" was and obviously Reuben could not understnad a word of what she said.

From that point forward, I don't think I ever fully relaxed in that hotel room. The door would be locked and checked a million times and the pushchair would be put in front of the door. Everyone was given strict instructions to have Reuben in their sights whenever we were in the hotel room.

That first day and the day after, we had to have eyes in the back of our heads. We were on "high alert" at all times as Reuben was like a ticking time bomb, ready to do impulsive things at any moment.

The evening of our first full day, I said to my husband that we should never have come on holiday. I could quite easily have packed our things up there and then and gone home.

As the days went on. Reuben seemed to settle. We got into our own routine and we stayed more or less in the same place by the pool each day.

Reuben loved being able to just jump in the pool and cool off. In fact by the end of the holiday he was swimming really well, albeit with his face in the water and he completely mastered the art of jumping in.

The heat seemed to affect him and make him really tired and drowsy, so walking anywhere became quite a challenge (Reuben is not light). Just the little tasks of going to get something to eat turned into a mission.

The main challenge we had on holiday was the hotel restaurant.

Whether it was the big open space or the noise or the amount of people, Reuben just did not like it!

He would refuse to leave the hotel room in the morning to go to breakfast and we would end up having to bribe him with a cup of tea (his favourite) then sneak food out of the restaurant for when we were round by the pool as he would just refuse to eat.

Evening meals were even more of a challenge as, obviously we couldn't sneak food out. Reuben would full on refuse to go down to the restaurant for dinner and would even have temper tantrums in the hotel room.

Each evening we would have to think of another bribe to get him down there or simply try and distract him by chatting about cars while we walked to the restaurant. But once inside he would be terrible, he really wasn't comfortable there.

I would usually go and get Reuben's dinner first and try to get him settled eating while everyone else went and go theirs. But just as I sat down to eat my dinner, he would have finished his and start to disrupt the whole table. This would be either, banging cutlery on glasses, shouting, banging, throwing his plate or drink across the table or simply getting up and trying o run off.

Between my husband, his parents and myself we had to juggle distracting Reuben or getting his pudding to keep him calm. At some points, I had to leave the restaurant mid meal and take him to the lobby to just calm him and get his attention  back.

All in all, meal times were very traumatic for both Reuben, ourselves and probably some other guests sitting by us!

Looking back now, I wished I would have spoken to the hotel staff and explained our situation to see if there was anything they would have done. I am sure we could have eaten out in the lobby or been aloud in the restaurant early before everyone else came in. But hey ho, a thought for next time!!!