The Little Travelers

We have been at the hotel for just over a week now and it is becoming very evident that we are ALL feeling a little comfortable with our new lifestyle. My heart starts to beat a little faster every time I think about leaving my turned down sheets. Each day the laundry arrives in beautifully wrapped parcels and I thank the housekeeping guy as if he has just personally delivered a surprise gift straight from the heart.

I know that I must return to loading the washing machine, packing lunches, washing floors and emptying the dishwasher but I’m worried our little travelers may be in for a earth shuddering shock.

I think back to a week ago when the little travelers arrived, they looked a little nervous at the buffet and giggled as chairs were pulled back for them and napkins placed on their laps. What a difference a week makes. The boys now shake hands with the maitre d’, are often lifted in to their chairs and know exactly how to get three scoops of ice-cream for dinner without G and I even noticing (just a slight nod of the head, even though the mouth said one scoop my slight nod is saying load it up).

For the little travelers, school is a now a distant memory and new lessons have come in to play. Mathematics can be done by counting how many tiles make up the swimming pool. Daily reading is scanning the menu of one of the twenty restaurants in the hotel. Number 2 has become an expert at ringing for room service (yes this is the child who finds it impossible to speak to adults). Each morning without prompting she recites “4 bowls of cornflakes and can we have cold milk AND hot milk please”. I overheard 1 and 2 debating the merits of the two Indian restaurants and deciding the Lamb Korma beat the Chicken Tandoor. Each day they swim for hours in the pool and play on the basketball courts. New friends have been made both poolside and around the hotel. The hotel staff hand out balloons, pens, pinches on cheeks, handshakes and high fives. I have noticed the chocolate fairy who comes each evening while we are at dinner now leaves two chocolates for each of the children on their pillows (G and I still ONLY get one). Life for the little travelers is as they say, one big holiday.

Do we think it will affect their behaviour or personalities? As G said, “by the end of the month these children are going to be completely feral”. As a girl who grew up in a small country town and didn’t have a passport until she was 29, I can’t help but enjoy watching them experience this unique time. All day I have been thinking about a childhood friend of mine from the same small country town who is trying to make her way through today (December 4th). It’s the one year anniversary of the loss of her precious son. I think we may have an extra scoop of ice-cream tonight.