It started with a random Whatsapp message on a Sunday evening when I was chatting with my college friends. Someone proposed a plan to meet and one thing led to another, excitement was at its peak and in less than 30 minutes, we ended up booking tickets to Goa for a girls trip! What’s more we decided to take our kids along! Goa is one of the easiest places to plan a holiday with kids. No long flights, child friendly hotels and endless beaches where you and the kids can spend hours.
We deliberated over the hotel for over a month. Homestays, Airbnb, villas, 5 stars – what would work? After a lot of contemplation, we decided to stick to a five star property since we were going during the monsoons, and with kids it is important to allow for customization.
The craziness started at the airport. Hugs, kisses,selfies, and trying hard to get our kids to bond (really why do we expect so much from kids!).
Day 1
The holiday began with kids choosing their rooms, and then realising that they were as ravenous as we were! The kids wanted to do all the activities from zip lining to rock climbing, while we just wanted to sit back, chill and drink our beers.
In the end we ended up playing ‘oranges and lemon’, ’round and round’, singing nursery rhymes and playing ticket ticket in a golf cart!
We had planned to tire the kids out so we could stay up late chatting, drinking beers and reminiscing. Little did we know we were so tired we were asleep even before the kids!
DAY 2
Morning began with the same routine of bath and breakfast with kids waking up at their regular time. While we wanted to get to our beers, the kids wanted juice and that in mommy terms spells S-U-G-A-R! After running behind the kids all day we struggled to stay awake again! But we were in Goa and meeting each other after 12 long years so we knew we had to exchange stories and check Facebook pages to see what everyone we knew was upto and more importantly, what they look like now.
DAY 3
The day started out just right. We decided to hit the beach! So there we were – gone were the days of toned bellies and non cellulite legs- moms with imperfect bodies and their kids out to have a great day on the beach! We missed happy hours in its truest sense. We really didn’t think we would be picking up shells on a beach or creating paper cones so the kids could keep their shells at our college reunion. We had pictured this so differently!
On the beach we solved tantrums about which kid had the most shells and broke up fights over the watering can in the swimming pool. Our late night beer sessions was rudely punctuated with fears of being woken up by hungry kids at the break of dawn.
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When reality hit!
On day 3 there was no escaping it. This was life now. And if we had to do it again we wouldn’t have it any other way. Our kids ended up bonding so well with one another too!
As parents we often reminisce about days past and yearn to relive them. But on some level we knew that having our kids on holiday with us was far better and stress free than leaving them behind at home. Perhaps it offered another level of comfort. After this holiday all I can say is if you are planning a trip with your college besties and have been putting it off because of kids, go for it now, with your kids!
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Rushita Sheth
Mansi Zaveri
Janani S Koushik
KSP Team
Janani S Koushik
