I'm so excited...

I'm very excited. Incredibly excited. We've just booked our skiing holiday for next January. I honestly don't know how I'm going to cope waiting for the next four months. I may implode.

We didn't go last season as Baby Badger was only six months old. There was no way she could come with us, nor could we leave her with anyone. Father Badger very kindly offered to let me go, but I didn't fancy building a stash of expressed milk to last a whole week, nor did I fancy the idea of pumping on the edge of the piste every three hours!

As you may know, we did go the year before, our sixth season, but I was 16 weeks pregnant. We went with my midwife's blessing and the instruction to ski within my ability (black runs definitely out of the question), no moguls (for those of you who don't ski they're the bumps that are "fun" to ski over, although I never have got the hang of them), and definitely no ski park ( that's the bit with the ramps and jumps that I normally fall over on!).

So... we're going next January! (Excuse me while I do a little dance of joy around the living room.) Father Badger, Baby Badger and myself along with my sister in law and three friends. Father Badger and I are going to share a lift pass so we each get to ski half of the time while the other is on parent duty, and sister in law has offered to do some of the looking after.

Excited as I am, there's a little part of me that's worrying that I'm being selfish: Baby Badger doesn't want to go on a skiing trip, and she's definitely not going to enjoy the journey (waiting at the airport, short haul flight then coach transfer). I'm hoping she'll enjoy the experience of being somewhere so snowy, and a chance to experience something new - she really has proved herself to be very versatile so far.

What do you think? When did you first take your little one away on a proper holiday? How did they fare on the journey? Have you any tips for entertaining them; anything we should not go without; anything not worth the luggage allowance?

I've added this to the show off showcase, not because I think the post is a corker but because I really could do with some advice for next January!

Image: Suat Eman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net