Archives for February 2019

From the minute you decide to look at booking a holiday the whole family are sure to become very excited. When it comes to the day of the holiday the level of excitement increases dramatically, however travelling with children isn’t always easy. For example, carrying suitcases and luggage heavier than your own bodyweight whilst keeping hyper children in your sight when you hurry through a busy airport can be a nightmare for many parents. Or, sitting on a plane for a few hours with a screaming baby or a young child who doesn’t like to sit down for a long period of time can be off-putting for many families going on holiday.

There are ways to avoid these nightmare moments by keeping your children entertained. If you would like to find out ways to keep your children entertained at the airport then keep reading this article for further information.

Be Well Prepared

To avoid meltdowns whilst on your way to the airport, make sure all packing has been done to avoid rushing around in the morning. The less stress you have in the morning, and the fewer things you have to do will give you more time with your children to stop them being bored and keep them entertained. For something to do, you could let your child help to pack items and gather things they would like to take with them as hand luggage.

Get a Good Night Sleep

When going on holiday it is important to get a good sleep the night before to make sure everyone is prepared for the long journey ahead. If children get a good night’s sleep, then they won’t be as moody in the morning.

Start the Day Early

If you have an early flight, and it is going to be a long journey, it may be a good idea to let your children get all their energy and excitement out in the morning so that through the day they will be tired and more settled through the journey. To get your children to let all their energy out, get them to be active and play games or other activities which involves a lot of movement. If you have a young child who is not able to walk, try and wake them at different times so that they will be able to nap during the journey.

Fun Car Journeys

For those travelling with children for long periods of time they can begin to get restless. In order to keep them amused you can play games such as eye spy, or if they have a smart device they could play games on that or even play with toys that they want to take on the plane with them.

Parking at Luton Airport

When travelling from Luton it can be difficult to find a parking space because it is such a busy airport. In order to keep the kids entertained, you can ask them to look out for parking spaces so they can be kept occupied. This will also give you a better chance to find a parking space that you may have missed. However, to avoid the risk of not finding a parking space, Luton airport parking has made it easier for you so that you can make sure you will be able to get a space. To ensure you get a parking space at Luton Airport, you can reserve spaces online at lutonparking.com. When you reserve car park spaces, you can save a lot of hassle on the day you are going on holiday.

Arriving to the Airport

When you arrive at the airport, children love to explore because it’s not something that they see very often. Ask them to help get the luggage out the car to make sure they don’t wander off whilst you are busy. If they have a small suitcase with them or if you have a bag that is light enough for them to carry then you can ask them to carry it. This will make them feel like they have got an important job or a responsibility to do which will help to keep them behaved and stop them from running around a busy area where they could get lost.

Airport Security Checks

As we all know, airport security checks can be very boring and can take a while to get through. To help keep your children occupied during the airport security checks you can play games with them such as eye spy, counting games and many others. When it comes to your turn to put items into the tray you can ask your children to help you empty all the items from your bag onto the tray. Once you have walked through the security checks, you can ask your child to keep a look out for your tray with your items in it. When you get to your trays, you can ask them to help to put all the items back in to make sure nothing gets left behind.

Waiting for Your Flight

When you are waiting on a flight it can feel like you will be sitting with nothing to do for hours. To keep the children entertained, you can have a look around the shops inside the airport or go for something to eat. In the airport, there are many different shops that you can walk around and get some snacks for the plane journey or even pick up some gifts and last minute holiday essentials that you may have forgot. You can get a quick meal from one of the many food courts across the airport. If you are looking for a snack or a restaurant meal then you will find something for all the family to enjoy with such a wide selection of foods to try.

Boarding the Aeroplane

When it comes to boarding the plane, it is important that you keep all the family together to make sure you can take your seats straight away. Whilst the plane is getting ready for take-off it is a good idea to make sure you get your children to follow instructions given by the cabin crew. When instructed to take seatbelts off you should take your child to the bathroom and let them walk down the plane to stretch their legs so they will be able to sit comfortably when the seatbelt signs come back on. Whilst sitting on the plane you can keep your children entertained by letting them look out the window or playing on the smart devices they have with them or any other toys that they brought with them. If your flight is going to be long, it may be a good idea to try and let your children go for a nap after all the travelling they have had to do during the day.

Final Verdict

After reading this article, you now know some of the ways that you can keep your children entertained during any sort of airport travel. Start planning your next family holiday today and keep in mind ways you can keep your children entertained through the travel to avoid any meltdowns or tantrums.

To read more on topics like this, check out the lifestyle category.

A dual sport (dual purpose) motorcycle somewhat bridges the street and off-road categories. Generally, a dual sport motorcycle is one that is street legal and can be ridden off-road as well. These are versatile bikes, but they are also compromise bikes. Some are more suited for around town and easy trails; some work well on the highway and make good adventure touring bikes; some are more dirt oriented: you can ride them on the street, but they are much more suited for off-road / trail use (dirt bikes with lights). Some bikes in this category are quite “tame” and built to a budget, while others are essentially competition bikes, with high-end components, made street legal.

One of the easiest ways to give your bike snappier acceleration and feel like it has a lot more power is a simple sprocket change. Or get the best motorcycle mods to optimize your beast.

Don’t buy a dual sport bike and expect it to work great everywhere, in all conditions, with a single setup or configuration. It’s just not going to happen. If you’re not going to be riding aggressively on the street or on the trails, and you want to go most places, then a single setup with all-around (50/50) tires may be just fine. You can also switch between different setups. Unless you have a second set of wheels, though, switching tires frequently would be a real hassle. Changing a front sprocket to change the gearing does not take much time or effort (depends on the bike).

Motorcycle modifications are one of the most inevitable parts when you buy a bike; it’s either for speed or for the aesthetics that one would opt to modify her/his motorcycle. Almost every motorcyclist is willing to take the chance to increase the performance of her/his bike. There are many ways to improve a bike’s power character. With utmost certainty, a different silencer, fuel injection firmware or a new crankshaft profile will affect the power delivery of your bike. The BikeBandit.com is the one-stop online platform to meet your powersports accessories, motorcycle battery and OEM parts needs.

No matter what powersports vehicle you ride – Cruiser, Sport, Adventure, Dirt, UTV, ATV, Watercraft or Snow, BikeBandit is here to help and be able to do it better so you can get it fast, get it right and get riding!

“It’s not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship

that makes unhappy marriages.”

– Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher

I may not agree with everything I’ve read by Mr. Nietzsche, but he’s nailed this one, hasn’t he?

I look around at the failed marriages of my friends and family members, and, if there’s one thing you can say for certain, it’s that they probably weren’t true, hardened friends the day they got wed, and certainly not with the kind of friendship that could stand the stresses and strains of a marriage…

And, even if they thought they were friends then, on the happiest day of their lives, they certainly weren’t that way when the divorce monster finally spat them out the other side.

Me? I’ve never been married and my horizon is looking pretty clear in that respect too. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a bad-looking guy (so I’m told… occasionally); it’s just I’ve had a lot of stress and strain just simply trying to live. The reason for that is simple too. Addiction. Meth, alcohol, weed – you name it. I was married to all of them.

My name is Andy, and I’m pleased to say that, just over 9 years ago, I finally divorced them all, and have lived a clean and sober life ever since. It wasn’t in a divorce court, with lawyers bickering over what my entitlements would be – it was finally settled in an Idaho drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility, and I left with the chance to lead a better and healthier life – an entitlement that any addict would settle for given the real opportunity.

Quite a few of the marriage breakdowns and subsequent divorces I’ve witnessed in the lives of those around me fell victim basically to an outsider and a thief sharing their house – yes, addiction. One of them unknowingly let it in, it made itself at home, and, yes, you’re right, it refused to be the first to leave.

Good people, their relationships destroyed by this constant unwanted house guest. By then, for the vast majority of them, it was too late, the damage irreparably done.

Fact. Just under half of those choosing to tie the knot in the U.S. will end up divorcing each other. Just under half… And many will return to the scene of the cime too, and get hitched for a second time. The divorce rate for those marriages is even higher.

What I’m about to tell you is exactly why and how addiction and substance abuse affects the social health of an addict. In other words, here are 4 reasons their ability to maintain healthy, rewarding connections and relationships is going to become seriously flawed.

#1. Addiction & Brain Function

Let’s begin with something that, as a married partner, you’re not going to be able to see physically, but you will certainly know about it – brain function. Alcohol does many things to the human body, but one you may not be entirely aware of is how it’s effects on the thought process can range from crystal-clear clarity to utter, and often unbelievable, craziness.

Any type of substance abuse, and alcohol particularly, will actually physically restructure the way a brain works, and the connections that can be severely include:

• Pleasure & Reward
• Memory & Learning
• Decision-making
• Natural Impulse, and
• Stress

What you may be able to witness, therefore, is the resulting brain damage (because that’s what it is, and, believe me, I know), such as:

• Mental health disorders, eg.
  • Anxiety
  • Stress
  • Sleep disorders
  • Depression
  • Possible psychosis
  • Uncontrollable aggression
• Memory impairment, eg. blackouts
• Hepatic Encephalopathy (caused by cirrhosis of the liver)
• Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome:
  • Severe memory loss
  • Confabulation (or invented memories)
  • Inability to converse
  • Lack of perception

#2. Addiction & Reproductive / Sexual Function

I am now going to make the assumption that part of any healthy marriage is a healthy sex life, and, highly likely, it’s the desire to start a family too. Actually, that’s no assumption. However, the substance addicted spouse is going to be experiencing some problems and issues in that department, regardless of whether the addict is a man or a woman. Addiction certainly doesn’t discriminate.

One of the victims of long-term substance abuse is the hormonal system in general, and, in particular, the two primary hormones for the regulation of your reproductive functions – testosterone, and estrogens, such as estradiol.

A little biology here. In men, hormones affect sexual maturity, sperm development and level of fertility, and sexual behavior. In women, hormones affect several functions, predominantly breast development, body hair, menstrual cycle regulation, and the ability to maintain a healthy pregnancy.

Let’s look at alcohol as an example. In men, chronic alcohol consumption can result in hormonal imbalance, infertility, and sexual dysfunction, such as:

• Abnormal sperm
• Reduced testosterone levels
• Male breast growth (you’d better believe it), and
• Sexual and reproductive disorders

In women who are premenopausal, chronic alcohol consumption can result in several reproductive disorders, such as:

• Irregular menstrual cycles or the cessation of menstruation
• Menstrual cycles with no ovulation
• Early menopause, and
• Spontaneous abortions

#3. Addiction & Money

Finances, always one of the biggest sources of marital disharmony, get hit by addiction – big-time, whatever your drug of choice. Not only will it affect your spouse, it’ll hit your community and the whole country you live in right where it hurts – in the pocket.

Did you know that the financial cost of alcohol addiction alone in the U.S. is around a mere $249 billion every single year, and drug addiction costs an estimated $484 billion every year? That’s serious, serious figures. Every single year.

However, you not going to be too concerned about that, if your the spouse in an addicted marriage. Sooner or later, money will go missing with no explanation, jobs are lost, court fines need paying, to name but a few ways your family’s finances are affected. Furthermore, let’s not forget the actual cost of the addiction itself, which, depending on the so-called “drug of choice,” can be the odd thousand dollars a month.

#4. Addiction & Domestic Violence

As mentioned earlier, addicts can have a great deal of difficulty controlling their aggression, particularly when what angers them happens “in their space.” The other thing you should know with regard to this is that addicts are generally good people. However, they still believe they are the same good person when they’re either drunk or high or both. Rarely (and sadly) the case.

Even more sad are the following statistics where substance abuse is discovered to be the primary factor:

• 80%: Domestic violence incidents
• Half of all sexual assaults
• 81%: Child Protective Services intervention

And it’s not just violence against others. 45% of people with untreated substance abuse disorders end up taking their own lives. The only protection and safe haven for you, your spouse – the addict, and other family members living with you is for them to find the best residential or outpatient addiction recovery treatment.

And It’s Over…

However you want to break it down, divorce is an ugly business. It’s even uglier when one of the participants (usually, the unwilling one) is an addict. I’ve seen it first-hand when one of my closest friends back in our addicted days split with his wife and child. Her reason? She’d become scared of him. Add a child into divorce proceedings, and the process becomes uglier still.

All of the 4 reasons provided above echo through what I witnessed – the impaired logic and thinking, the frustration in everything, the money worries, and, yes, child services becoming involved in their homelife. A sad thing to watch from the sidelines.

Personally, I never had a relationship even approaching mildly successful, let alone one that would lead to a marriage, while I was drinking and using. Successful relationships are always based upon mutual honesty, mutual respect, and a mountain of compromise – qualities an addict lacks in equal degree, as did I back then.

Then I got sober and my life changed fundamentally. I and millions of others out there in this big wide world are living proof that recovery from addiction is possible with the right help and support. We just need a lot of help and motivation in finding it.

Are you currently experiencing problems with substance abuse in your marriage or relationship? Please remember, there is always hope. Do share your experiences with your fellow readers by commenting below. All are gratefully received. Lastly, there is only one answer for the addict – abstinence. It’s not a cure, but it’s a start. Above all, take care.