Anyone have 1 child? Do you go on holiday?

[Grockle]

Just wondering what other lone parents of a single child do for holidays? We have done various things - visiting family/ friends, camping in the UK etc but I feel for DS(8) when I see other children playing with their siblings & he's stuck with me... he doesn't seem to mind but will occasionally make little comments that make me feel sad for him. Anyone in a similar situation?

[lessemin]

Yes we always took a friend of dds on holiday with us from the age of about 8.
It worked out fine in fact she is 23 now and we have been on holiday this year and she brought her mate along.

[WithConfidence]

Ds is only little so not really into socialising. I take him to soft play, adventure playgroud, beach etc where he could come into contact with other kids, plus stuff I want to do.

It is exhausting having to entertain him all the time so it's good to have family or friends along to take a turn so you can actually relax for a few minutes of your holiday!

[Heymacarena]

I was a LP of an only child from whenhe was 2 until he was 10.(he now has a pair of new 'brother's.

Anyway, I took him all over. some short breaks in the UK, and a fair few trips to Spain, France and the Canary islands. We had a blast.

He isn't/wasn't ever bothered about playing with other children - was happy with my company. But if you go somewhere with lots of other children they will naturally buddy up.

[JustMe1993]

My LO who is 18 months and has already been to Cuba and Egypt as well as around the UK I'm a LP but always went with my mum, sister and brother

[Athrawes]

Mine at 3 is at a great age for just walking up to other kids and making friends. At the moment his best friend is his Dad and they love spending time together having fun. I do plan to take a friend with us in the future - say, once he is 6 - just so that I can have some time for me and Dad.

[Grockle]

Thank you. He doesn't seem bothered really. I was wondering because we just came back from a cruise & he chose not to go to the kids club (it looked a bit dull) but I did think that if he had a sibling, he might have been more interested. Or would have been able to wander off a bit and have some independence. I sometimes think that if we had friends in a similar situation, we could do stuff with them but I do quite like my time away, just the 2 of us.

[betterthanever]

grockle I love just the two of us DS same age too. If I bump into you somewhere in the world they can play together
DS always makes lots of friends and so do I, best bit is if I don't like them I am not stuck with them the whole week
We mix it up a bit and go with friends sometimes and fmaily sometimes but I do like just me and him. Things are the way they are and siblings don't always get along.
8 more years and we are on our own, they will be away with mates yikes!!

[Grockle]

betterthannever... you are right. Scary, isn't it?!

I love it - DS is really good company most of the time & people often comment. I know I am lucky. The good thing about having only 1 child is that we can do more than if I had to pay for 2 children! I'm hoping we can try a city break - Rome or somewhere now he's a bit bigger.

If you see us, give us a wave!

[Lonecatwithkitten]

DD is 9, we do several things go somewhere where there is a communal pool DD will play with children of any age. We have been on holiday with friends with children her age to a villa and finally we go on short city breaks just the two of us.
I have just booked to go to Belgium in December so Christmas Markets, chocolate museum, chips museum (yes there is one) tram down the coast and shopping.

[VivaLeBeaver]

We camp in the uk and dd normally makes friends on the campsite.

We've also been to Egypt and Tenerife and she makes friends with other kids at the pool.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Sometimes you do have to push them together with someone.....dd used to be too shy to go up to them, even if it was another lone kid.

I've dragged her up to another child before now and said "this is dd, she's 9yo, she's wondering if you'd like to hang out". Then leave them to it.

[VivaLeBeaver]

I'm thinking of going to Barcelona or Paris just the two of us next year. Probably wont be other kids around for her to meet as we'll rent an apartment but we'll be so busy seeing stuff it won't matter.

[mistlethrush]

DS is 8 - we have a beach holiday in Devon in the summer and he plays with other children... We go on a chamber music week and he plays with other children. We have just had a week in kent (the two of us) with my parents and he's loved that too.

[betterthanever]

It sounds like we are all having fun times, both us and the DC - hurrah for good times

[Grockle]

Viva, that's the kind of thing I hope to do with DS. It's nice that they're old enough to do things like that now.

Thank you all. I sometimes feel very conscious of the fact that it's just me & DS when we are away but it works well and he's happy. Lovely to hear about other people's holidays too

[januaryrain]

I have a DS aged 11 and we've generally gone on holiday on our own. I love sightseeing and looking up interesting places that he'd like to see, and I don't really enjoy going on holiday with others as there's always negotiations about where to go/eat etc! We don't spend much time with anyone else but that suits us both, it's lovely to have leisure time where you can just relax together. We've been on city breaks in Europe, travelling across India, camping breaks in Scotland, youth hostels across England, and the odd cheap Sun caravan holiday!

[Pumpkinupthejam]

I went to Centerparcs with DS (9) last year and we had a fantastic time. Some activities he did on his own and some I joined in.

Trying to save up for another visit next year!

[Grockle]

Ooo, that's interesting. DS is desperate to go to Centre Parcs & I've not really considered it because I thought that it wouldn't work with it being just the 2 of us. I shall look now!

[Pumpkinupthejam]

Sorry I didn't come back to thread earlier, we stayed in the hotel bit and had massive cooked breakfast every day, then snacks at lunch and tried the various restaurants in the evening. Took DS for his first curry

So it was a holiday for me too!

I was asleep by 10.30 every night after all the fresh air and exercise - one day I think we did the water slide rapids thing about 60 times

We're both dying to go back although I won't be doing the Arial adventure again after I got stuck on the climbing wall which was only about 10 ft up. Heights are not my thing!

[MeMySonAndI]

We have done quite a bit of glamping, staying in hostels and a fewonghaul trips.. I try to go to places where he can find other kids to play with. And the holidays are for thw two of us, each day has something he will enjoy, something that I will and something to enjoy together.

[PigOnRollerskates]

I have had tons of fab holidays with DD (now 12) but we first went away together when she was 5.

The best trip we went on was when she was 6, to Venice. I thought i was dragging her there because I'd wanted to go for years, but i was amazed what a brilliant holiday it was for her. We had a day on the beach (Lido), a day watching the glass making. not far to walk because you can get river taxis everywhere. It's a kid's paradise. Easiest food abroad ever too - pizza and ice cream!

when we go camping she generally makes a friend, although she's not the most outgoing, so she tends to wait for people to come to her and ends up making a new best friend the day we're coming home! when we go on a city break we just take a pack of cards and she doesn't seem to mind having me as her company most of the time. i do sometimes end up doing stuff I wouldn't want to eg playing on the zipwire with her! but then she sometimes ends up doing stuff she wouldn't want to, eg trailing round museums for hours. It's part of give and take and would be the same for all families I'm sure.

Next year we're going to South America. I can't wait.

[NicknameIncomplete]

Reading this thread makes me a little . I cant really afford to take dd(9) many places. We usually have a holiday every few years & its normal for a couple of days with friends here in uk. Id love to take her abroad.