With two small children I watch the continuing saga of the ongoing treasure hunts for these two girls in horror.  In one corner a little girl left alone at night in a foreign hotel room with two baby siblings goes missing and despite a huge worldwide media campaign, she remains lost to her parents who have themselves been suspected of involvement.  In the other corner, a slightly older missing girl is found but then a number of relatives – including the mother who reported her missing – are being questioned about their involvement in the case.  Child abductions aren’t new, but the way parents and media can get information out to the public and ask for help is far improved on what it used to be.  In real life you can't have give the victim a face lift that makes them unrecognisable, so there is a chance they will be found. Unfortunately cases like these two young girls are more likely to create a certain apathy towards future missing kids simply because of the police involving the parents in such a negative way.  Although Madeleine’s parents have been cleared of involvement (although the friends they dined with that evening are still to undergo further questioning), Shannon’s mother has been remanded thus implying that she was in some way responsible for what happened to her daughter.  I confess to being somewhat confused to what’s going on in this particular case – Madeleine’s is far more straightforward, although sadder because of her continued disappearance. 

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What troubles me however is that if something were to happen to a child of mine, would the media turn its attention from helping me to find my child, or would it use the Shannon case as an opportunity to run our family through the mud?  Would the public rise to the challenge of finding our child, or would they shrug and say “Remember that Shannon case; it’s probably the parents behind this one too.” 

Too often we get desensitized to things because of excessive media attention, things like changing your gender, breast enlargements and anorexia have become normal.  I fear that this will happen in the case of missing children because of the way the McCann’s have flooded the media with Madeleine’s story, and the way that the family seems to be involved with the Shannon story.  I don’t blame the McCann’s – if it were my little girl I’d be doing my best to make sure that the world knew what she looked like and constantly doing what I could to keep her in the media’s eye too – but I am a little worried that the public will stop caring and begin to think “Oh another child missing.  What a terrible world.”  And then forget all about it.  If the public don’t care, the media will stop the anxious update reports, and then all the technology in the world won’t help find these children because there’ll be no-one looking.

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Anyone seeking a mortgage with First Direct is going to find themselves with an automatic disqualification unless they are already First Direct customers according to the announcement made from the bank.  In financial theory terms perhaps this is a sound move – especially in the wake of the Northern Rock fiasco.  But what about people who are looking for a mortgage?  Banks are often like sheep, where one leads another quickly follows.  Does that mean that there will soon be a situation (temporary or otherwise) where anyone wishing to buy a house will be hostage to whatever interest rates their own bank offers with no free market in which to search for a better deal? And what kind of president does that set for other times of borrowing? If I wanted a cosmetic surgery loan, would I too have to only use the people that I bank with? First Direct may have good reason to protect their assets in this way but I hope that the matter is being closely monitored by the major UK financial watchdogs to ensure that the ordinary people on the street are protected from any institution wishing to use the situation as a way to increase their profit margins.

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“No Frills” may mean less ticket price, but it can be heavy on stress unless you know what to expect a little bit in advance.  Here are a few tips from recent experience:

 1.                  If you are travelling with children pay the additional cost for priority boarding.  It’s not worth the worry of standing at the back of a large line of passengers wondering if you and your little ones are going to find the right number of seats to be seated together.  Whinge and complain about paying this cost by all means, but pay it.  If your plane is full it’s well worth the peace of mind.

2.                  Having paid for priority boarding, find the priority boarding queue and stand in it as soon as you get to your gate.  You may be standing there for 40 minutes but at least you know that you’re guaranteed a good choice of seats once you’ve boarded the plane.   Choosing seats around the middle of the plane will allow you a few minutes to get our children seated before other passengers start pushing past you.

3.                  Weigh your luggage if possible before arriving at the airport.  Not only will it cost you in money if you’re over your allocated allowance, but you’ll also have to stand in another queue to pay the excess and then queue to check-in again.  If you know it’s over weight beforehand you have the choice of ditching some stuff, or going straight to excess baggage and paying before your check-in desk opens! Please note, excess baggage has become very expensive. You are better off leaving your laser hair removal system at home, becaue it'll be cheaper to just buy another one when you arrive than take it with you.

4.                  Remember to ditch all drinks before going through security into the departure area.  You can buy more once you get through there.

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5.                  Go through to the departure lounge as soon as you are allowed to do so – especially if you have young children.  This will give you enough time to clear security (including the removal of jackets/shoes and putting them back on), and also time to make a bathroom visit.  

6.                  Food on the plane will be available but it will be limited in choice – especially if you are travelling later in the day.  Pay a visit to a store in the departure lounge and buy any refreshments you think you’d like on board the plane.  The vending machines in the launge may be expensive, but it will most likely to cheaper than buying what’s offered by your airline, and a good deal tastier!

Although the above is not an exhaustive list of things you can do to make your “no frills” flight hassle free, by following the tips above, you’ll be able to cut out some of the frustrations that first time “no frills” passengers endure.

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I’ve always considered those large service stations along the UK’s motorways to be the playground of the higher income brackets.  Places to be visited by those who are either in search of emergency bathroom facilities, or have time and money to throw away on “local produce” and speciality breads.  Travelling by car with two small children from one end of the UK to the other however has completely changed my opinion however.

OK, so I stand by the fact that mostly the service stations are going to cost you money, the chocolate bars are almost double in price and the vending machines are more than a bag of fresh coffee from Italy.  What you have to balance that against is what you get for that money.  For example, the stress level of trying to navigate a car of increasingly bored children through yet another lengthy road works tailback can become of monumental proportions if it’s not diffused.  This is where the service stations come into their own as a bright beacon for parents on the motorways.  

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It doesn’t have to be a lengthy stop. You don't have to go in and have IPL treatment at the latest in a line of promotional stands to grace the stations forecourt. We found that even a 15 minute stop for ice cream was enough to restore good humour and harmony in our vehicle which lasted a good 70-80 miles until the sniping began again and it was time to look for another service station.  Over the course of the 600 miles we covered in a week, we found there were favourites amongst the service station chains that seemed more focused towards child travellers.  It didn’t matter to us that the usual fresh baked country flapjack fair was replaced by international fast food chains.  What did matter was that the children knew what to expect, liked what they saw, and found entertainment aimed at their various age levels to take their mind off the travelling for a while.  

As a parent watching my children visibly relax, being able to take them to clean bathroom facilities (one of which was even decorated with fresh flowers), and know that when we restarted our journey they would be rested, fed and ready to go, the money it cost at each service station was worth it because of the amount of good relations it restored.  

So if you’re travelling long distances with small children, watch out for the larger service stations such as Moto/Travel Lodge/Express.  They may not serve the same menu as you’d get at say a Little Chef, but they will provide respite for travel weary kids.  Besides, most of them can provide decent cup of coffee for you to take with you when you get back in the car!

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