Expect 2 year old to sit quietly in restaurants

No

Centre parcs will be perfect for you.

Lots of stuff to do with DC and child friendly bars/restaurants for evening meals but make sure you book in advance as they get booked up. They have colouring pads and play areas in each.

We've been centre parcs every year since DS was 18 months old and he's 18 this summer.

Stop taking free holidays and plan and pay for your own?

Sounds like it's been a holiday for your in-laws and not you or DS.

This. Why wasn't DH doing half the wrangling?

And I feel for you with the slow eating. DM takes hours and expects everyone to sit politely waiting for her. Aarrrrrgggghhhhhh. She'll pick up a fork, start talking and I'm staring at it, willing it to get bloody eaten so we can LEAVE.

How come dealing with your DS was down to you? Did your DH not step up occasionally? I wouldn’t be going on holiday with the MIL for a while. Sounds like she wants a child free / stress free holiday.

Never mind the 2 year old, it’s a huge waste of the lake district for anyone, just walking round shops and going to restaurants! When our eldest was 2 he climbed one of the highest peaks in the lakes under his own steam and thoroughly enjoyed it. I do expect toddlers to be able to sit through a meal out generally but not 3x a day everyday. I wouldn’t sit politely for that number of trips out and I’m in my 40s! If I were you I would pack up some sandwiches and take your toddler out on some adventures instead, then maybe meet up for an evening meal.

when DS was late primary age I could manage him on fairly grown up holidays so long as we found about 3 parks a day (lots of beautiful medieval European cities have parks as well as historic architecture). And that was 7-9 years older than your DS

No I wouldn't expect a two year old to manage that.

I'd question why the two adults need pandering too more than the two year old.

I'd plan some day trips next time. Lakes are beautiful and there's loads of fab stuff for kids to do.

Your mil can do what she likes but your dh needs to be entertaining your child with you.

Is anyone's 2 year old NOT like this???

I would have let DS go full tilt and leave the two of them to deal with it.

I think old(er) people just forget how it is...

For god’s sake - he’s two! Totally normal behaviour. If you DH and MIL can’t understand this let them go on an adults only holiday together and take your boy to have age appropriate fun elsewhere.

This sounds like a nightmare and I'd be so incredibly stressed I'm not sure I'd last the whole trip before I packed up and went home

I live 20 mins from the Lakes and apart from the odd Michelin Star rated restaurants, most of the food around here is extra luxurious pub grub with a postcoded price tag. You pay for a tad nicer than nice food in a nicer setting and the food isn’t that much different wherever you go. Meal with a lake or fell view will probably cost a fiver more compared to the same meal with a view of a village street. How you’ve afforded to eat out three times daily I don’t know!
You’ve missed out on so much, especially your child. So much exploring to do and lots of child friendly walks and activities. I feel sorry you’ve wasted what could have been an amazing break with your little one, through no fault of your own. So many family venues with on site eateries so everyone could have been accommodated fairly easily.
MIL needs to go and have days out on her own or holiday on her own, she sounds very selfish and your DP should have made you and your son his priority.

It really depends how you eat at home. The three of you sit at the table for every meal, breakfast included, it might work. You eat wherever and whenever, taking a bite and wandering off, in from of the telly, with a screen, it will be a disaster.
Expectations were too high on both sides.

I would be annoyed if sitting in a restaurant 3 times a day lol and I love my food .. next time just don’t holiday with them

We took DS(3) to Sheffield, he loves anything with wheels so wanted to go on the tram. You can get the train into the peak district, also plenty of indoor options if the weather is rotten (we did the emergency services museum and the trampoline park, there is also swimming, climbing, ice skating, Lego shop...

Hell no! I would be bored and irritable and I'm 43. My children at that age would never have managed that. It's a bit unreasonable of the in laws not to expect some fun stuff to be added on for your son, swimming, soft play etc... May have made the meal times more bearable. I doubt I would go away with them again.

Before I vote one way or another, how long is 'hours and hours on end'? I wouldn't expect anyone to sit for however long that is supposed to be.

My children are adults. When they were young my MIL - who I loved very much - told me off for giving them ice cream in the street. She said they should be taken to an ice cream parlour. Well they didn't have any of those outside London where we lived, but it made me think, so I took to taking them into a tea room in the town, where they could have what they wanted and it was just me and them.

They were devils at home, every mealtime, something, but whenever we ate out, they were just lovely. We had the whole class in to birthday parties when they were little, so they behaved then, and later had birthday parties in restaurants with waiters singing bringing in the cake.
I think children can be taught at a very early age how to behave in public, but they may have to let rip somewhere, and if that was at home, I accepted it, because I could take them out from toddlers.

So many options between that and butlins.

Some things we have done: airbnb near the seaside: one naice restaurant meal a day, otherwise picnics/fish and chips on the beach. Breakfast in the holiday cottage just like home.

Luxury toddler friendly hotels like the Ickworth and New Park Manor. Fine dining with a playground!

We haven't done the lake district with the kids but we've done the peak district where my ILs live. So many things to do like go to the petting farm, etc.

I'm not convinced that all parents of grown up children have accurate memories of the toddler years. To be fair I can understand why you'd want to block some stuff out.

You'll have a lovely time at butlins. I've got such happy memories of the just for tots breaks.

JFC. I’m 50 and I’d have a tantrum if I had 3x hour long meals every bloody day.

I litterally stopped taking my child out to eat at that age it was so awful .

YANBU