'I made a simple holiday admin error and had to leave son, five, at home'

A mum who had to leave her five-year-old child at home during the start of their holiday due to a basic admin error has warned other parents not to make the same mistake. Penny Moyses was heading abroad to enjoy a friend’s wedding with her husband, James, and their two children when disaster ensued - and had hoped to spend a few days taking in the sights of Croatia.

The 37-year-old’s heart dropped when, just days before they were due to depart from Stansted airport, she realised that her eldest son’s passport had expired. She rushed to secure an emergency one – but was told children’s passports need to be applied for at least one week in advance.

Sadly, the admin error meant Penny had to leave James and their five-year-old son at home, while she flew to Croatia with their youngest. “Fear totally went through me – I felt sick to my stomach,” Penny said.

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“I just had a quick peek just to double-check I had the exact right passports and just happened to notice that my eldest son's passport had expired back in October. “I thought ‘It's fine we can get an emergency passport, you can get those in a day’. Turns out that for kids you have to wait a week as there's a lot of safeguarding regulations, which I totally respect.”

Fortunately, despite missing their flight and a few days in the sun, James eventually managed to secure their eldest’s emergency passport. The pair met the group at the port and, with their outfits in tow, quickly changed on the boat transfer before stepping off in their suits – much to Penny’s relief.

She said: “My eldest ended up missing the first two days of the holiday. Luckily we managed to intercept the passport at our local sorting office and they arrived just in time for the wedding, literally the boat transferred them to the wedding.”

The traumatic event has encouraged Penny to take charge of what she refers to as the “silent load” of life admin that swirls around her head. The mum is using an app called Fyio, a digital filing cabinet that helps users keep track of their most important personal documents.

She said: “The silent load is often what can fall on a woman for various reasons but typically the person that is running the household. It's something that I certainly can't switch off.

“By using Fyio I can now keep track of my important documents; if I had the passport expiry dates in there, I would’ve completely avoided the Croatia disaster and saved myself hundreds. My son wouldn't have missed two days of our holiday.

“For me, it's those family moments that paperwork can really impact. I totally underestimated what it was like going back to school with kids."

She said: “Now, I have all the important documents in my online filing drawers, such as school uniform regulations – and, of course, passport info."