Routines and holidays – do they go together?

We’re currently staying with Grandma and Grandpa for half-term. This is wonderful for everyone – Rosemary and Eleanor get played with and doted on for a whole week, and Chris and I get to relax more than we can do pretty much any other time. Oh yes, and Grandma and Grandpa get to spend lots of quality time with their granddaughters who live such a long way away.

But… Yes, there has to be a but… Try as we all do, we can’t seem to keep the routines going. Saturday night, Rosemary didn’t get to sleep until midnight and Eleanor was up loads in the night (though the latter was more down to the 4-month growth spurt). Sunday night, Rosemary almost fell asleep at the dinner table and missed pudding, while Eleanor slept pretty much as normal. Tonight, Eleanor fell asleep about half an hour before (a slightly later) dinner, woke up when it was served, then again about an hour later. Rosemary only got to sleep at 9 o’clock (usually 6.30-7).

We’ve been trying to keep dinner and bedtime routines as close as possible to normal, but the daytime activities can throw it all off. Rosemary’s two late nights both followed a (pretty short) nap in the car in the afternoon. Eleanor’s sleep was off when she had to wait until later than usual for her 4 pm feed, or had to have a slightly earlier one.

We need our routine these days (when not on holiday, I mean). Without it, there is no way that we could manage anything remotely close to a full working week. I could maybe scrape by with 10 hours and Chris might be able to manage 20. But we need to do 30 each, and evenings are where we find that time.

I’m curious to know whether anyone ever manages to keep up a routine while on holiday. Or do you just go with the flow and accept that late nights will happen? And how quickly do you get back into the routine afterwards?