helena frith powell

  • Lifestyle
  • Women
  • Beauty
  • France
  • Contact

A Family Holiday

10th August 2011 by Helena 2 Comments  

We are on holiday in Sri Lanka. It is a welcome break from the arid heat of Abu Dhabi. We are surrounded by nature; paddy fields, lime-green parrots, palm trees, bright flowers and….our children.

“Is it possible,” Rupes asked over breakfast as Bea and Leo argued over who could have the butter first “to go on a family holiday without your family?”

It is a  strange thing for working parents to spend 24 hours a day with their children, and not always the most pleasant of experiences. The children seem to create arguments over just about anything, from who should try to track a frog they have discovered to who should have the first boiled egg or sit next to daddy or go on the PlayBook. Every outing has its own challenges, such as who should sit with whom in the TukTuk, and once we get here we’re going who should walk in front or who is talking at any particular time. There is not really any downtime. It is not like an office where you can put your headphones and ‘do not disturb’ face on. On a family holiday you are disturbed as and when suits the family.

Of course there are lots of upsides. There are moments when they’re not arguing (rare and blissful) or when they say or do something funny, such as Bea this morning being asked if she wanted to come for a walk replying; “Oh no thanks, I’ve already conquered two empires, I might conquer another one tomorrow.”

And a family holiday is just that. A holiday with your family. Although some might argue it is less of a “holiday” than other times of the year.

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2011


Filed Under: blog --> Tagged With: family, holiday

2 thoughts on A Family Holiday

  • Cid says:
    11th August 2011 at 3:17 am

    We don’t call them family holidays or vacations but rather “relocations” for this very reason. Holidays are times when you are at no one’s beck and call whether they are bosses or offspring or, in most cases, both.

  • Nina says:
    11th August 2011 at 5:07 am

    Just this year during our two weeks in France I thought :
    ” Never again ” !
    On a holiday. With my own family.
    I discovered I`d rather work all year round, but not to go on a holiday with arguing, impossible kids, and husband who`s playing golf all days long if possible. And if he is not palying golf, he is arguing just about everything: where, what and when to eat. Just to give few examples.
    At one stage I thought I`ll just disappear from my family. I`ll just go away, and not come back. Ever.

    But what happend when I had “Me Time” ? Wich to me means jogging, aerobicks or yoga. After even a two hour break from all, I came back to our house with smile on my face, and noticed I do love my family.
    You see, no one ever said this would be easy with husband and kids. But time to time we (mothers and wifes) do need a break from it. Please? Even on a holiday.
    And if someone asks about our holiday, the answer is we had the most wonderful holiday. Just like we did.
    Now planing eagerly for a next familyholiday…

    Have a great holiday!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Helena Frith Powell was born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and Italian father, but grew up mainly in England. She is the author of eleven books, translated into several languages including Chinese and Russian. She wrote the French Mistress column The Sunday Times about life in France for several years. She is a regular contributor to the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, The Times, Daily Telegraph, Tatler Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar.

Helena has been the editor of four magazines, including M Magazine, a supplement for the Abu Dhabi-based National Newspaper and FIVE, a high-end fashion glossy, also published in Abu Dhabi. Helena was also editor-in-chief of 360 Life, a quarterly glossy magazine published with the Sports 360 Newspaper in Dubai, part of the Chalhoub Group.

Helena contributes regularly to UK-based newspapers and magazines and holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge. She is working on a thriller set in Sweden as well as a novel about the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield called Sense of an Echo.

In 2022 her short story The Japanese Gardener came second in the Fish Publishing Short Story Prize. One of her stories was also shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize. When she’s not writing, she works as a headhunter for the media and entertainment industry for the Sucherman Group. 

Helena, who was educated at Durham University, lives in the Languedoc region of France with her husband Rupert and their three children.

Bibliography

More France Please, we’re British; Gibson Square 2004

Two Lipsticks and a Lover 2005; Gibson Square (hardback)

All You Need to be Impossibly French; (US version of above) Penguin 2006

Two Lipsticks and a Lover; Arrow Books (paperback) 2007

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (hardback) 2006

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (paperback) 2007

So Chic! (French version of Two Lipsticks) Leduc Editions 2008 (also translated into Chinese, Russian and Thai)

More, More France; Gibson Square 2009

To Hell in High Heels; Arrow Books 2009 (also translated into Polish)

The Viva Mayr Diet; Harper Collins 2009

Love in a Warm Climate; Gibson Square 2011

The Ex-Factor; Gibson Square 2013

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles; Gibson Square 2016

The Arnolfini Marriage; Amazon Kindle December 2016

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles (paperback); Gibson Square spring 2018

The Longest Night; Gibson Square spring 2019

 

 

© 2023 Helena Frith Powell
Website by Web Inclusion
/* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: content-template-for-layout-for-header-and-footer-layout - start */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ .helenaHero .mainTitle h1{ font-size:3em; -webkit-transition: all 0.8s; -moz-transition: all 0.8s; -ms-transition: all 0.8s; -o-transition: all 0.8s; transition: all 0.8s; margin-top:-100%; padding-top:100px; padding-bottom:50px; margin:0; } .scrolled .helenaHero .mainTitle h1{ font-size:1.2em; padding-top:30px; padding-bottom:20px; } /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: content-template-for-layout-for-header-and-footer-layout - end */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: 17hfp_about - start */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ .HFPA-section{ width:100%; background:#eee; } .HFPA-Image{ background-position:center right; background-repeat:no-repeat; height:276px; width:100%; -webkit-filter: grayscale(100%); /* Safari 6.0 - 9.0 */ filter: grayscale(100%); } .HFPA-Text{ padding:20px 10px; } /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: 17hfp_about - end */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: 17footer - start */ /* ----------------------------------------- */ .footIt{ background:#222; padding:20px 10px; } /* ----------------------------------------- */ /* Content Template: 17footer - end */ /* ----------------------------------------- */