To think friends might come away with me and the kids now I'm a single mum

I went away with 1 couple & the 3 single mums last year! (All the mums friends) I don’t think I’d do it again. I just think others kids & people wanting to do different things makes for a bit of a naff holiday! Camping, yes. Holiday abroad, no.

Or even round for dinner, it’s so cringe how you’re a threat all of a sudden.

Maybe take a cruise? Lots of entertainment for kids and you get to meet people there.

Organising a holiday for a large group is tricky - trying to adapt and incorporate everyone's preferences can lead to all sorts of problems! Do you have one particular friend who you could ask rather than a whole group? We always camped with one other couple family and a single mum friend with 3 kids when ours were little. It was great and we took turns cooking and minding the kids etc but I think it would have been harder with more than 3 families.

I’d go with my friend. In your circumstance you’d bet I’d be there. Dh would see me and dc off with a cheery wave as well.

Just because a few replies don’t see it from your point of view does not mean you are wrong. They just wouldn’t do it for their friend.

it sounds like you didn’t go on holiday together when you wasn’t single so can’t really expect it now.

off topic but those fb holidays sound like my idea of hell what could go wrong with meeting up with a load of strangers on a holiday 🤔

You might have more luck with others who have DC? I've been away a couple of times with a group of Ds's friends and their parents (some are single, some couples, some only one parent goes, others both). It's worked out pretty well, so nice to have some adults to chill with while the kids have a good time together.

Maybe it's not about you, perhaps you friends just think that group holidays are too hard work? Group holidays can be great, but they can also be tricky, tricky to manage different expectations, tricky when children in different families have different rules, tricky when some people have more money than others, different taste in food, etc.

I'd also recommend this group, I've met and holidayed with other single parents when my child was younger.

I am in a similar situation to you and my friends do holiday with me but I don’t push it. I do ask if they’d like to go on holiday to show interest but then I wait until it is suitable for them. I think you can be disappointed but also understand that sometimes the timings just don’t work and you might have to wait until they do. I am very flexible so happy to tag along with what they want.
The only thing I would say is that I’ve created a bit of an issue in that my DC are refusing to go on holiday without other families there as that’s all we’ve done so maybe going on you own is a good thing (although I know it’s harder).

I totally agree OP, YANBU. The summer after I split up with exH, the nicest thing some friends did was invite me and the DC with them on holiday. They made out like they’d been given an extra big chalet anyway, so there was a sofa bed for me and the kids bunked up together, but I think they did it on purpose, it was such a lovely gesture.

I also went on a camping holiday a few years later with a friend and her DC, no husband. We had a brilliant time.

On the other hand, holidays are really expensive these days so it depends what type of holiday you mean. I would maybe pick one really close friend, and be really honest about it, and suggest something really easy and cheap, like camping or a big air bnb, or go to London or a big city and book family rooms in a premier inn.

I have also had some fab holidays just me and my DC. I took mine to Barcelona when they were 8 and 6, they are teens now and they still talk about it! We stayed up late and went out for tapas, then when they were asleep I read my book with a glass of wine on the tiny balcony in the hotel room 😊

Trying to arrange a whole group to commit to something is too hard. Diaries don't match up, people need to keep their annual leave for family holidays, nothing suits everyone. Maybe next year just ask the person you are closest to first, then offer it out to the wider group. Or suggest an adults only weekend when your kids are with their dad.

But did you used to holiday as a couple/family with other families, when you had a spouse?

In my experience, that will be the difference. I got excluded from families of friends trips once I was a single Mum as well.

Campmates - look them up on fb - they do holidays in new forest and in Spain in Oct half term.
Yanbu to be sad but don't let it get you down or affect your friendship.
High Adventure holidays are also marvellous

I don't think it's comparable to a hen weekend. Trying to find something that suits different families and different holiday dates is very different from an adult only weekend. I think stick to your weekends away and find somewhere for just you and kids that suits for holidays abroad.

I’ll be honest OP when my son was younger I had a great group of mum friend's but the idea of going on holiday with other peoples kids and spending a week together is my idea of hell.

I really enjoyed my holidays with my DS as a single mum. He was a teen by then so we stayed round the hotel and pool during day then went out for dinner. Later on we’d find a bar with a pool table or music and he’d chat to other teens while I sat with a large wine people watching. I was really anxious the first time but it was a fabulous week of bonding.

I would recommend looking at single parent holiday companies or Facebook groups to find like minded people in similar situations

Look up the single parent travel club on Facebook where single parents arrange cheap group holidays and trips

What about caravans/lodges/bell tents?

You mention hotel which to me is boring in the U.K. or abroad and I’m not doing a mates holiday aboard

ive found that most women don’t want their partner on a holiday where a single mother is around - they see you as a threat .
But hardly any will admit to it.

Did you all holiday together with kids before you were single? If not, it seems like you are using them to cover your costs now that you no longer have a partner to share costs with.

I don’t think YABU OP. I love going on holidays with other families so I’m probably coming at this from a different place, but.

One of our friends was widowed a few years ago and we (I mean me and DH and other mutual friends) always make sure she and her DC have an invite on holidays. They don’t usually take it up but at least she knows that if she wants to holiday with other adults she has the option.