To be hating my family holiday

Our holidays with our boys were the happiest days of our lives...

• Portugal - exploring the Argave, exploring local markets and eating lots of fish
• walking in the Swiss Alps
• Outer Banks of North Carolina
• Gettysburg, Amish County, NYC and Boston
• Disneyland and San Diego
• Rafting in the Sierras of California and Nevada

Dont't think this is true. My boys have have have always loved a beach holiday.

Mine have been unexpectedly awesome today. A catastrophic navigational error turned a nice walk into a 15km one - oh my days the moaning.. BUT... we had to get back, they knew it and had they've slept/eaten well. Last night I was really miserable when we came back to the hotel at 9:30pm, but we'd travelled that day and my youngest was going to melt down.

After the walk today we've gone the pool to play (yes it then obviously rained!) and just had a giant nap; everyone is ready to eat and go out tonight. I think there's something about managing expectations and trying to ride things a bit. I aim for bumbling along most of the time and generally ignore minor wingeing. Good luck

I think you’ll find the vast majority of the tourism industry is predicated on the fact that kids love the beach!

As an only child, yes, I remember holidays at that age being really boring, sorry. My parents thought I could just play in the sand and go on the slide 24/7 but realistically at that age I needed a lot more stuff to do and a lot more interaction.

You need a holiday to recover from a holiday with kids.

I'm not even on holiday, just a day out today which has been cut short by children's constant bickering and general bastardness!

Ended up leaving early and bringing them home without going out for lunch as planned.

So now theres going to be absolutely no more days out for the rest of the holidays, I'm done!

I've just booked them both in to holiday clubs for the rest of the holidays!

We've been on a beach holiday recently and it was mostly ok but I was ready for home by the end. We didn't do any excursions as it was expensive and eldest kid claimed to 'hate boats.' I just felt it would have been more stress than it was worth.

Most days looked like this: breakfast, back to room to get ready, walk to somewhere (beach/park/shops), lunch out, back to room for a quick break, pool until about 5, back to room for showers and chill before evening meal and entertainment. Kids seemed to enjoy it but it got pretty boring after a week.

Visited a lovely flea market one day but dc all complained it was too hot and too full of people and wanted to buy everything.

Very little time to sit and chill. Always wanted us in the pool playing with them.

But on the plus side they all ate well and slept better than they do at home.

It was a lot of money for a pretty average time but I guess that's what holidaying with kids is like.

my kids have always loved every holiday we have had. They still do even though they are now at university. We are all pretty easily pleased and just love a change of scene. If there is sunshine and swimming, all the better!

OP, what in particular has bothered your son? Is he able to articulate it? What is he like at home? Was he excited about the holiday beforehand?

Gettingbysomehow
I find kids tend to hate holidays unless they are Disney land or something like that. Beach holidays or city breaks just bore them.

Disney ‘holiday of a lifetime’ was our ultimate nightmare holiday- the heat, queues, arguing because some are tired some ready to go on more and more, and in your head all there is is that little voice (sorry no that was dh) saying how we’ll never get here again and we’ve spent the holiday budget for the next century so have to do everything! And the cost!!!! Worst still is getting home and the look you get when you say you went and the worse one if you mention it wasn’t anything other than your dream holiday. Plus you have to gush about how lucky you are and privledged and not say that you would have had a better time in the hostel around the corner from your sister!!!

Our 10yo gets as much attention as he wants on holiday. It’s only this year that we’ve found DH and I aren’t “enough” for him
on a beach holiday. He was happier the second week of our holiday when friends with DC joined us.

I think its the experience of many to have a very unrealistic idea of how a holiday will be. Better to change your format than continue with the same type of holiday giving you the same type of results

He needs a friend or decent kids club - otherwise you should be prepared to need to entertain and engage with him the whole time.

Mine love a beach/pool holiday and will entertain themselves for hours and even the full day, but they have each other and make friends, if not or I had only one of them is would be very different.

Totally disagree, mine have always loved city breaks and hated Disney

What's he moaning about? I have 2 DC, one is 7 also, we have also done disney twice and go abroad every year. We make sure we choose a hotel that has a waterpark, kids club, activities and a swim up room or private pool. My 2 love a holiday as do we.
No way is my 7 year old sleeping in my bed, that's abit silly.

I used to love UK beach holidays as a kid.

A lot of the day spent digging in the sand & making sand castles.

Walking along the beach for shells.

Looking in rock pools.

Meeting other kids to play with.

Endless fun.

I guess I was easily pleased!

My youngest DS just was really really difficult for the whole of last year - he turned 7 in March. We had a great holiday in the Feb but in the summer he was just so moany, whingey, vile basically for an entire year almost. Our holiday last year was the pits.
He turned a corner in about November last year. He is always going to need a lot of parenting but he’s just been so much nicer.
I think they just sometimes have a bad patch. Ours coincided with poor sleeping, he was probably knackered tbh and so were we.
We have just got back from a wonderful villa holiday. Realised that having own space to chill and get snacks when you want etc is perfect for us, and you can run about and make noise without bothering anyone, access to some screens for a bit of inside time, walking out and choosing restaurants at night, works for us. Hotels were no good.

Just had a very exhausting holiday away with DC on my own. Bits were lovely but so much moaning and whinging about doing anything at all and at one point said they'd rather be home.... wish my bank balance had known that in advance. I think it will be one for posterity as we had lots of adventures but jeez it was so tiring.

I think it’s hard for a 7yo without siblings to find entertainment on a beach holiday. My dc love beach and pool holidays but they play together.

I've never found this at all! Never been to Disney Land and have no desire to. My kids have always loved holidays - beach, city, camping, whatever. They still do at 16 and at in fact.

Also this, my kids are close in age and it was always a godsend on holidays because they would be highly motivated to play and hang out together which takes the pressure off a bit.

I forgot to add, the point of my last post is to say I'm sure he's having a better time that you think! They can just get narky on holidays at that age for some reason. Hang in there

My DS wrote his freaking college essay all about a holiday back to our birth country in his early teens. Predictably he was a pain in the arse approx 80% of the time, but according to him, it'd actually this wonderful, transformative experience, where he learned so much about his roots and gained a new respect for family connections and traditions. News to me, boyo 🤣

Where are you? Is it very hot? Could that be bothering him?

Can you take turns leaving one parent with your child whilst the other goes off and does something they enjoy? At least that way you will get some fun out of your holiday.

Because my 92 year old parents also got it left and we all did to look after them?