To say I'm dreading Easter Bank Holidays ?

If they are too young to stay home alone then they are too young to decide they are not going away. Who's in charge here?

As an aside, even though they are "expensive for what they are" people mention pizzas often because, assuming people are buying supermarket ready made or takeaway, rather make from scratch, there is hardly any clearing up afterwards so more time for other stuff.

Have a fakeaway /takeaway one evening, have a roast on Easter Sunday, see a friend one day, go out for a few hours with your DH once or twice too. Your DH and yourself could each choose a film to watch plus you could suggest family film night with a pizza. I can’t see what there is to dread.

Do you work, OP? What happens with the kids in the hols if you do?

I was thinking this too 🙄who goes on mumsnet asking how they can spend their time? She says she's seeing local family and going for a run..that would be enough for me! So bloody ungrateful!

@Auburngal

The supermarkets are closed?

I’m dreading Saturday. Shoppers go unnecessary crazy because we are closed for one bloody day! Yet the smaller supermarkets like Tesco Express and Sainsbury’s Locals are open! Always a massive queue to their little car parks.

Plus many customers still presume that we are only open short hours on GF and EM or closed! Nope! The only places are places such as post offices, banks, doctor surgeries, libraries etc.

Stop the crazy nonsense of shopping like there’s no tomorrow.

I will be busy as got three days of code checking to do as told to reduce stuff even more if it has Monday’s date as we are dead after 5pm

You are not a prisoner or a slave. If you want to go to the pub, just go.

JFC book something and tell everyone to pack a bag.

DD14 me, my partner and his DS 19 are off to the coast for a few days. No whining from them about friends or gaming.

Don't you have any books in your house?

The only problem here are the parents. Your children dont do anything other than game ...you bought them it all, never had rules and time limits and never raised them to accept that family time is not negotiable. If you dont change the rules now then you can't complain

Why can’t you leave them 10 hours….do they have additional needs?

Surely it doesn't have to be 10 hours or nothing?

Sounds like you enjoy almost nothing so of course you will feel bored and fed up !
Instead of going off seeing your friends and leaving DH home alone, why not both meet up with couple friends? Why is it "meh" for the two of you to have an evening out together? Find a fabulous, new restaurant if your local is dull. Do any local places have live music?
Ask the DC what ingredients they need to make a family meal, then go out and leave them to prepare everything for Easter Sunday lunch.

I'm finding the teen years boring, but mine is autistic so has no social motivation and there's a limit to how long I can leave him because his idea of feeding himself is grab pack of biscuits and scoff and has poor awareness of his bodily needs. He can be left for a few hours between meals, but not all day as he'd have no sense of when to go and eat.

Most of the suggestions made so far easily stack up in cost very quickly by the time you're paying for a whole family, especially when children are at adult rates.

We've also had health issues in the family to take into account over the winter so even without the relentless mud and rain, it's been difficult getting out so far this year.

Yes us too.
My ds s are 19,19 and 23 …back from Uni
We usually do a marathon Risk…snacks essential. Now they are older wine and beers too.
Then shorter games like Catan. Or Bagatelle, Batgammon etc

We ve always played board games though and mine also go to a local board game cafe or ask their friends over who all arrive with lots of different ones we ve never played.
Its, I suppose, not for everyone though, but it’s never too late OP.
I would suggest turning off the wiki for a time,

Don't you have a hobby or any home based activities you enjoy? I'd love a day to catch up on some reading and sewing, play a family board game I the evening, maybe some baking. My kids are younger and we do more together still but if get an hour when they're on their devices I put on an old film or pick up a book.

I don't get this. Your teens want to be in their rooms gaming all the time but dont want you to leave the house. Sounds very entitled of them. Not sure why you are pandering to it. Why don't you use Easter as an opportunity to change the dynamics in the house. Tell them what they're doing with you as a family and then spend the rest of the time as you please. You don't have to live like this.

I have one classed as mid teen and one almost teen. Both are perfectly capable of being home alone all day, amusing themselves and making lunch. We're working on their clearing up their own shit.

Over bank Holiday weekend, this will happen:
Gardening if it ever stops raining. Kids might help if bored enough or bribed.
Younger dc will already have made plans with friends.
We will do film nights.
We will visit family for a few hours.
We will have a day out.
Everyone will get to do something they enjoy at some point over the weekend.

Mid teens? You can definitely go out for 10 hours. Go out wherever you like with your husband or your friends. They do not need you to be there all the time.

This! Just leave them on their own and go out with your husband.

I find it quite hard when people panic about being ‘bored’ and in the same breath mention a list of privileges like having local family, eating out, cinema, etc. It seems we’ve stopped seeing any of things as privileges and are always looking for more, feeling hard done by if we don’t get it.

That wasnt really the point I was making

I would rather go out than eat at home, I love eating out, but not at a chain pub.

What do you like doing? Obvs we are all different but I’d lovely a lazy weekend where the kids let me ignore them :D

I’d read a book, potter in the garden, have some nice wine, do some creative writing, go for a walk!

my mum used to say ‘only boring people get bored’. Not saying you are boring, but you are in charge of how much fun you are having! Figure out what you love and do that. Some with kids, some without!

Hm. Sorry, deleted. Mistake. 😁