The genius of the nannycation is pretty obvious. Someone is there, 24/7, to deal with your kids when they’re fighting over where to go mini-golfing, insisting on splashing everyone within a 10-mile radius of the hotel swimming pool or begging for something to eat when you just want to bury yourself in “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.” If you and your spouse or significant other want to have a nice dinner alone one night? Done. If you want someone else to con the little buggers into brushing their teeth and going to bed while you enjoy peace, quite and  a glass of wine? All set.

The down side, of course, is that the nanny or appointed caregiver has to be paid. But let’s pretend money isn’t really an object. (And if you’re someone who either has or would seriously consider this option, it probably isn’t.) Family vacations are supposed to be about just that: spending time with family. As much as I might be tempted to bring along some hired help if I had the means, I don’t think I could because I’d feel like I was somehow cheating in the Game of Mom. I’d feel disengaged from my children and concerned that they would might see themselves as burdens to their own parents, extra baggage that has to be pawned off on some family employee. I mean, in every book, play or movie about a screwed-up upper or upper middle class kid — from “Romeo and Juliet” to “Igby Goes Down” — don’t the adolescent characters blame their misguided behavior and lousy outlooks on life on their uninvolved, dismissive mothers and fathers? (For some reason, we rarely say this about the parents in “Mary Poppins.” Which, perhaps, is a matter for another blog post.)

Of course, I suppose if the nanny had become a close family friend, bringing her (or him) along  might feel much more natural than I am characterizing it here. (This writer, for example, has very fond memories of having a babysitter during a trip to New York as a child.)  Tell me: am I being too harsh? Have you brought your nanny on vacation, or known someone who did? How did you feel about it and did it make the trip much more relaxing for everyone?

Image: Escape Deals

Despite the gloomy economic outlook, decreasing mortgage rates and petrol prices mean that families have a little extra cash in the piggy bank to spend this summer.

Cathy Wagstaff, editor of the Holidays with Kids website and magazine, polled Australian families for a 2008 travel survey. She says that despite a looming recession, people aren’t giving up their holidays. “They would rather put off their new car or household items. They’re still going to have their family holiday. If they had already booked a holiday they weren’t going to cancel it.”

And overwhelmingly, we are still choosing the beach. Queensland’s Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast topped were named the top two destinations in the Holidays with Kids survey, closely followed by the North Coast of NSW.

What is it about the coastline which appeals so much to the Australian psyche? It’s a common theme running through our art, film and literature, from the photographs of Max Dupain to the writings of Tim Winton and the plots of inumrous Television soap operas.

Ever since bathing was declared the favoured recreation of Sydney in the 1834 edition of the Sydney Gazette, Australian and international visitors descend upon the coast to surf, fish, swim, explore, and relax.

And having conqured Australia’s coastline, we’ve expanded overseas, first to Bali, then Fiji and now Thailand’s Phuket, currently the number one overseas holiday choice for families.

The way we travel though, has changed. Instead of the rented fibro shack, or tent pitched in the sand dunes, we are choosing flashy resorts with lagoon-style pools and kids clubs. Instead of the long journey in the clapped-out car, legs stuck to vinyl seats, dad puffing on cigarettes, we’re booking cheap flights on the internet. Even the humble caravan park has morphed into the “Holiday Park’ , replete with in-ground pools and games rooms stocked with the latest video game consoles.

But luxury accomodation aside, there is one thing that hasn’t changed. According to Wagstaff, her surveys show that the number one thing people want from a family holiday is to have fun with their children – and thats what the kids want as well.

MentalFloss has helpfully provided a round-up of "5 Dangerously Popular Holiday Toys," complete with video.

At various times in our nation's history, there have been toys that capture the public's imagination. The desire for said toy becomes so intense that folks will do anything – ANYTHING – to get it for their children. They become blinded by desire, and sometimes that desire can turn to rage. Or, if not rage, the spending of far too much money on eBay.

I don't think that there is a toy out there this season that has achieved this level of frenzied consumerism, but it's possible that there is and my kids aren't into whatever it is. Anyone looking for something that they haven't been able to find? Let us know in the comments.

Anyway, here are The Toys That Once Made Parents Hearts Pound:

1. Cabbage Patch Kids (1983)
I personally never got into these dolls at all, and never understood their appeal. But I was in the minority. Stories of people spending hundreds of dollars for one of these odd-looking mushy dolls that did nothing except come with adoption papers were rampant. What I never knew was that Coleco, the company that made the dolls, created fake hospitals where the Patch Dolls were "born" in order to entice toy buyers. It worked, but a little too well – check out this video of people literally attacking store managers and other customers just to get one of what the anchorwoman calls "dumpy little dolls." Ah, good times. Bonus: 80's hairstyles.

2. Tickle Me Elmo (1996)
I've never liked Elmo. To me, he took over one third of Sesame Street and relegated show business veteran Grover to a supporting role, something I will never forgive him for. (For more about Elmo's creulty to Grover, check out this site.) Clearly little kids love the little red monster (who himself loves only his crayon and his goldfish), so toys were inevitable. But who could have predicted the craziness that ensued when Tickle Me Elmo showed up? Luckily, I didn't have kids yet or I might have been trampled trying to obtain an Elmo for my kids to tickle. Hm. Something about that sentence seems wrong.

The others are the Furby, which was an early interactive toy that I personally just found irritating; Beanie Babies, which were as much a grown-up collector thing as they were a toy for tots; and the Wii and PS3. This last one I think MentalFloss missed the boat on. Yes, the PS3 was briefly a hard to get item, but a high price, a limited amount of games and the availability of the much cheaper but still fun PS2 combined to throw a wet blanket onto consumer desire. The Wii is still tough to find; I know of two parents who are trying to get one right now. And the Wii Balance Board, or Wii Fit, is sold out everywhere. Of course, parents aren't trampling each other in an attempt to get one, they're just overpaying on eBay. That, my friends, is progress.

For some less stressful and more current gift choices, check out Babble's Ultimate Gift Guide.

Source: MentalFloss

Oh man, I thought when I saw the title to this article — “My
Interminable Flight with a Crying Child” — yet another uptight non-parent complaining about the indignities of being subjected to strangers’ children in
public places. But it turns out that Chuck Cohen has some decent points–and he’s a
parent himself.

I still maintain that I have little sympathy for Cohen’s complete intolerance for crying children on his plane (“Why should kids under the age of 2 fly free
on aeroplanes? And if they do, shouldn’t we institute a decibel charge?”), since I happen to be of the school that believes going out in public means encountering small humans — and sometimes, they’re going to cry.

But Cohen may be on to something when he argues that toddlers
cry on airplanes (and in the theatre) for a reason: they don’t want to go to London, or sit still in a dark theatre for two hours. They’d much rather play on the swing set in the backyard. 

Still, Cohen’s insistence that kids — and the vacationing
public — will be happier if they are left at home may be logical, but it’s not necessarily practical. Are parents supposed to give up vacationing all together until their
children develop a sophisticated interest in London theatre and the Eiffel Tower? And what about the plane flights that are to Grandma and Grandpa's house?

Photo: Mom's Buzz