I've just had the most frustrating conversation with my brother and Sil.
I'm taking my nephew - their 12yo son - away to a caravan holiday next week with me and 5yo dd.
Brother and SIL have just popped in for a quick visit, during which they tried to hand me £500! They said it was his spending money.
Then they tried to give my dd £300 and £100 for myself. I explained that no child would need that amount of spending money for a week at Haven. Most of the entertainment is included, but he might need a wee bit of spending money if he wanted to do extra activities such as climbing wall etc. But only £50 maximum.
I also said that i was only planning on eating out maybe 2 nights out of 7 (self catering) but i'm happy to cover the cost of his meals.
Well, they quite candidly said that my nephew is very fussy and would probably want a burger every night.
They said that i would find my hand constantly in my pocket to keep him happy.
He'd constantly be asking for money for the arcades.
He'll be moody and complaining if i don't give him money to occupy himself while i'm doing things with dd like the kids club.
He;ll be wanting drinks every two minutes.
I tried to assure them that i had a cheaper plan.
I'd buy him in nice quick foods or micro burgers to eat at the caravan. I didn't want my daughter eating out 7 nights and it wouldn't be fair to let him run into burger king every evening when my daughter's having to eat 'boring normal' food in the caravan.
They said he wouldn't put up with this and would go in a mood and probably not eat anything i made.
I said we can all spend a certain amount of time (maybe an hour) going around the arcades, and I'd ration him to £5-£10 per day.
They said he wouldn't be happy about this. He could quite easily spend an entire day at the arcades spending £100 each time. (They suggested i ration his arcade money to £25 a day).
I said he can take one of his portable computers to play (he has an ipad, psp, wiiU and a frigging 3DS) while i'm doing stuff with dd, rather than him doing something that costs money.
They said he gets fed up of his computers after 5 minutes so this wouldn't work.
I suggested i could buy a multipack of capri suns and take some out with me each evening for him rather than buy expensive drinks. They said he will prefer drinks that come fresh from the bar.
They were completely apologetic throughout all of this, stating they were fully aware he was a 'spoiled wee shit' as they so eloquently put it. My SIL says she's just spent over £600 on buying him new clothes for this holiday (almost twice the cost of the actual holiday!) and that she'd had to practically force him to murmur a thank you to her.
I was appalled. I said 'Well in future take him to the likes of Primark."
Then she looked appalled (snobby). "Oh no, he'd not have that. It's all got to be brand name with him."
It wasn't really my place to say, but i said it anyway. "If you want him to stop acting so precious, stop throwing money at him every two minutes."
They said they know it's their own fault, but he's gotten too used to it now, he doesn't know any different.
They left saying that if he plays up - which they anticipate - then they'll bring him home right away.
Now, i've had my nephew stay overnight before - so this week away is a big leap.
Yes, he is indeed a spoiled wee shit. But i don't stand for it when he;s here (which is probably why he hates staying with me!). E.g. the other week, i took him to the cinema and a cafe for a belated birthday treat.
Cost me a bloody fortune. Not one single thank you.
he complained the film was rubbish.
He choose the most expensive pizza on the menu (£20!) then decided he didn't like it. And went in a huff when i refused to buy him the second most expensive item on the menu. So he got landed with a basket of chips. Then all the way home he complained that his mum had bought him a crappy tablet instead of an ipad for his birthday. (They went out the next week and bought him an ipad - the tablet is now in the drawer).
I'm probably coming across as a total bitch here. But i just don't understand. If you know your child is a spoiled brat - why would you just put up with it? Why why why?
Anyway, i thanked them for the money, but handed them back the £400 they'd tried to give me and dd. I then reluctantly took the £500 for my nephew, but assured them he'd be coming home with a lot of change. The blimmin holiday only cost £400!
I love my nephew. I do. And i'm not dreading the week away with him. He'll be good company for me and dd. I'm sort of hoping to drum into him next week that it's possible to have fun without spending a heap of cash.
Wow what a rant! I started this at 4.30 - dinner's a-cinder!
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If you're aware your child is a spoiled brat - you should do something about it! AIBU?
245 replies
WhistlingNun · 05/07/2013 17:14
OP posts:
LindyHemming ·
05/07/2013 17:59
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