I want to be a unicorn when I grow up!

From the mouth of my four year old, not unusual at all, I mean what four year old doesn’t want to be something magical and extraordinary, what came next though ‘so I can tell everyone what to do’ I’m not really sure how this relates to a sparkly unicorn, but one things for sure it’s definitely a lot more realistic!

Today was one of those days, we’re currently on holidays and after two days of pool, beach and sun we thought we might head up into the hills and visit Montville. If you’ve ever been to Montville you’ll know it’s a charming little hinterland town full of art galleries, coffee shops and boutique stores.

We started our day off with an early swim in the pool. After going down the water slide at least 50 times (slight exaggeration) we convinced the four old to head back to the room so we could get ready for our little adventure. This is where the drama started. She’s got two dresses that are more drab then fab these days due to the constant wear, she refuses to wear anything else. She’s got an awesome wardrobe full of clothes and dress ups, but trying to get her to put anything else on other than these two dresses meets with a tantrum worthy of an Oscar! Don’t get me wrong I’m all for having a minimalistic approach and I’m sure she’d make Marie Kondo proud. Today however we though it might be nice for her to wear the dress her Dad bought her, a nice comfortable dress, one that he thought she would approve of with her very basic taste and we were met with another academy award performance. It was the battle of the most stubborn and believe me we tried every trick in the book, we were met with a steely resolve and after an hour we finally convinced her to at least try the dress on for five minutes and if she still didn’t like it she could take it off. I did her hair with the dress on, she asked for her hat with the dress on, we almost got her shoes on and out the door with the dress on and then ‘I’m taking it off now’ well at least she tried it on, according to her, the job was done.

Fast forward, we finally make the forty minute drive to Montville, enthusiastically saying how we might drop into the big pineapple on the way back.

The Main Street of Montville is quite busy but we find a park easy enough and we’re all in high spirits, even our little eight month old seemed happy enough to go straight from the car seat to the pram. We passed a few art galleries, made note to call back into the chocolate shop ( Chocolate Country, it’s amazing ) and found a shady little cafe that boasted the best Devonshire tea, and I was sold. I’ve always been a sucker for a good scone. My little one wanted ice cream and my husband ordered the more practical option of a smoked salmon bagel for lunch. This was going well until our baby decided she wanted to escape the confines of her pram. I was only half way through my scone and I was savouring every bite and after scanning the ground we came to the conclusion that there was too much flora on the ground that she would try to make a meal of and so my good husband let me eat my scone, while trying to eat his well filled bagel with one hand. A tad messy but baby was happy. It was around this time our eldest girl started complaining of tummy pains. Thinking that a trip to the chocolate shop would excite her enough that she would forget about the little tummy upset we headed over to the shop. Well my little chocolate lover did not show the enthusiasm that I expected and I didn’t even make it to the counter with my chocolate peanut brittle, rocky road and her chocolate freckles before she started lying down and rolling around on the shop floor. A couple of threats of her not getting any chocolate and a quick transaction, we were out of there! By the time I got back to my husband who had managed to find a spot decent enough for our youngest child to have a crawl around, we decided that our efforts in trying to make a day out of our little trip was over. Both girls were asleep in the car before we’d got out of town and we passed the Big pineapple on our way home with a chuckle. Have kids they say.

Our afternoon was a more positive event with us enjoying a swim at the beach and then the pool. Although my husband might disagree when he had to jump in the pool fully clothed (much to the amusement of others) to drag our stubborn girl out. Slightly dramatic, but she’d jumped back into the water without an adult three times and an example had to be made. Of course she was mortified and we had yet another Hollywood performance for the day, although this time around there was slightly more remorse.

Mum’s and Dad’s you are all warriors and I have to be honest, after checking that your child isn’t screaming because of some form of physical punishment, I’m going to sit back and watch the show and feel extremely thankful, because this time it’s you not me.

After reading my daughter’s favourite book, Thelma the Unicorn, both my angels are sound asleep and I can’t wait for in the morning, when we’ll be woken with their beautiful smiling faces. No trips to Montville tomorrow just the beach, pool and a walk in the afternoon for ice cream.