Will try to keep this short. We are lucky enough to be going skiing for 6 days next week. We live in France and will drive to resort, we have our own gear so no ski hire. We are very very lucky in that an acquaintance gives us mates rates on an apartment (half the normal price). All this means that we can afford to go skiing. We still save up for this though in order to pay for our lift passes and lessons for the children - it is a special treat.
DH has invited a friend and his girlfriend to join us for 3 out of the 6 days (he checked with me first and I was perfectly happy with the idea as it is fun to do this sort of thing with other people). They were pleased to come along. However it now turns out that they will be bringing two children with them (the girlfriend's from a previous relationship), when we invited them, the understanding was that the children were with their father that week.
I am really not keen on this happening at all. It means the apartment will be full to bursting (someone will be sleeping on pull out sofa in living room, the only small bedroom will need to have 4 people in it and two people will have to sleep in bunks in the hall). French ski apartments are tiny and there is never enough space to store/dry ski things, and there will be only one combined shower-room with the toilet in it for 8 people. We are self-catering so going to have to organise meals for 4 adults and 4 children around a table that only sits 6 at a squeeze.
Also the two children who now appear to be coming are of the noisy, jump on sofas, talk back to their mum (and others) type. Last time we spent time with them she got pretty frazzled. I feel sorry for them all, she is exhausted, she works full time and a single mum with young children who are obviously finding the upheaval of their parents divorce really hard. That doesn't mean I want to spend 3 days squeezed into a small apartment/going skiing with them though. Even worse, the mum is a beginner skier so I'm not too sure who is going to be in charge of her kids on the slopes as they ski better than she does and I can't see them being content to keep their mum happy on green runs.
AIBU to want to set some ground rules with everybody before we go? Such as each family is responsible for their kids and only their own and can we please not have the blokes off doing the black runs whilst the mums take kids to the toilet/sort lunch for them/sort out another change of dry gloves/drop them off and pick them up from lessons, etc? I also want us to have some idea of what we are going to eat in the evening and to have discussed who is sleeping where before we arrive. Really, I would prefer this not to be happening like this but we are just going to have to get on with it now.
AIBU?
To be thoroughly pissed off about extra additions to ski holiday and to get my clip board out?
Beachcomber · 20/02/2013 09:01
whois 
I think the OP is just making the point that this is a big treat for them, and so all the more reason to not want it ruined by other people's kids.
OP - I would get your DH to tell them that they can't come if they are bringing the kids, because there is no space.
If the other Mum is a beginner then you are going to end up doing no end of the childcare and so on, because she will be too busy spending an hour doing up her boots!
Yes, the 'I am worthy' stuff is only to make the point that this is a special thing that we do. We live in France nearish a ski resort - everybody skis here and most people do it like us, on the cheap. But is is still something we treat our family to and look forward to.
I think if I'm honest it is more the fact that the kids aren't terribly well behaved that is pissing me off.
Maybe we could try to say this "Oh, when we invited you we though it would just be the two of you. We don't have space for four of you. If the children can go to their dads then of course you two are still welcome but I understand if you can't come anymore. Sorry for the misunderstanding."
It sounds very reasonable when said here anyway!
French people ime don't seem to bat an eyelid about telling other people's kids off or having their kids told off by others....as long as you're not screaming at them. 
So if they start messing about just firmly say to them that its not acceptable, someone has kindly let you stay in their home and you need to respect the furniture and that if they want to jump about they may go outside in the sow where there's more space. If they carry on, get their coats and boots and tell them to go outside.
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