We’re slowly realising when you’re travelling with a toddler there is only so much you can squeeze into your day. Our ratio is generally half doing heaps of awesome cool things, the other half doing pretty much nothing while trying to keep the kid happy.
Visiting the Eiffel Tower was definitely in the awesome cool things list from this trip. Despite being Mr. cranky pants for most of the time Austin was totally up for the adventure. In fact catching him so early in the day was all sorts of good because he hadn’t woken up enough to do his usual running away from us trick. And he was all cute and cuddly, which is totally rare.
We beat the crowds, we saw the sunrise over the Eiffel Tower (so beautiful) and then we had chocolate pastries for breakfast. Pretty damn good.
So in light of our morning going so swimmingly well for once, here are my 5 tips for tricking a toddler into touring:
- Get out the door real quick in the morning so they’re unsure what’s going on.
- For bonus points wake them up early, this will hopefully stop them from running away from you all morning. Like every other damn day. You might even get some extra cuddles while they're still waking up.
- Make it exciting. ie. use that “isn’t this exciting” voice for everything you do. “Look, we’re getting a taxi!” “Look, a patch of grass!” “Look, the Eiffel Tower!” If you do it enough the excitement will be catchy.
- Buy nick-knacky toys from the street vendors. Kids always like nick-knacky toys.
- Chocolate pastries for breakfast? Yeah, why not.