To think this is cruel on the children?

Well if it isn’t ALL summer, then it is a lot of the other holidays that need to be accounted for. It might be easier and more enjoyable for dc to spend 4-6 weeks over the summer than weeks here and there with all of the travel on top.

It is cruel.

Really, do those parents even like their children? Why did they bother having them?

It isn't all summer. OP says majority, not all.

Yeah, I think it’s pretty cruel. A couple of weeks maybe but most of the school holidays?! Absolutely not. That’s such a long time to not see your parents. At least with holiday clubs, you’d have the time they’re not working with them. I also couldn’t bear to not see my kids for that long.

Boarding school is cruel too🤷‍♀️

I know annual leave doesn't cover ALL of it, but they surely don't need to send their kids 300 miles away ALL summer....wonder what they do for the other school holidays.

Mine loved spending school holidays with his grandparents. He forgot I existed while he was there.

What issues?

I've always sent my daughter to my parents Germany for the holidays. As a single working mum, I didn't have much choice but also my daughter absolutely loves it in Germany. Now that she's a teen she doesn't have much time in the holidays and obviously doesn't have to go as she doesn't need childcare but she asks to go herself (actually just returned form a week's Easter break with my parents).

I don't see anything wrong with it 🤷‍♀️ It's not like she's in Guantanamo - she's with people who love and spoil her.

I'd love this, it's very Enid Blyton.
My kids summer holidays are mostly us working and getting kids into summer camps or them sitting at home while I work from home. We try and manage a week away of we can, but that's only to fill the time as we'd rather go away other times of the years.
If grandparents are providing a fun filled adventurous summer and they get to bond with them then that is lovely. I'd send mine to grandparents if we had any that would be able to do it.

I think it depends on the kids and the grandparents, but it's a less-than-ideal situation to have to be in.

Posters justifying it by likening it to boarding school are off the mark, I think. For a start, you cannot legally send a 5 year old to boarding school. 7 is the youngest but, even then, most boarding schools don't accept children younger than 11.

This wasn't something I encountered as a child but, save for that I'd probably miss my friends at times, I could quite happily have been shipped off to my paternal grandparents - my relationship with them was better than with my parents. My maternal grandparents were decent folks but we didn't have the same closeness and I'd have hated being shipped off to them for weeks at a time.

All, in-all, I think "cruel" is a bit strong but it could be damaging to the children, particularly the youngest.

I suppose it depends if the grandparents are fun and loving or cold and failing to meet their needs? Grandparents can be more loving than actual parents.

Not enough annual leave to cover all school holidays. They aren't gone for all of the summer holidays, I imagine because that is when some of their annual leave is used.

Yes same for me!
National express coach on my own from around age 10 (long long ago)
every school holiday I spent with my great aunt, I absolutely loved being in the countryside, we would go on walks, to church, spend time gardening, as a town kid it was a whole new world and I looked forward to it so much.
my great aunt passed 2 weeks ago, I’m currently planning her funeral, I hope that she knew how much her time made my childhood special

Will again refer you to the math - school holidays > holiday entitlement.

Erm, ................... Oh, nothing.

I'm just off to Pedants Corner. Pretend you never saw me.

I mean I wouldn’t do it, but it’s probably better than childcare clubs? At least the grandparents love them and im sure they take good care of them.

Well when you do the math my dc have about 16-17 weeks of holiday and 2 parents have about 5 weeks of holiday each, meaning 6-7 weeks to fill even if you never take time off together.

if my choice for those 6-7 weeks was holiday club vs. Loving family environment with personalised days out then hands down family. And distance means nothing - My kids are far more than 300 miles from their grandmother, but have an amazingly close relationship even with only visiting once a year. if my mom were a bit younger I would happily leave my dc with her for weeks and they would love it.

I’m a lone (widowed) parent. As such, I’ve had to send my son off more often than I would otherwise have chosen but he enjoys it so much more than childcare holiday camps which he didn’t like at all (apart from Scouts) He’s got aunts and uncles and half-siblings who live hundreds of miles away that we hardly get to see. They are often clamouring to have him stay and he loves going to stay with them too. I miss him dreadfully when he’s not here but not only does it not damage our relationship, it strengthens his relationship with his other family members. He also regularly sleeps over at his Gran’d house if I need to work late.

Morbidly (and pragmatically) I do think/ worry about what could happen to him if I died prematurely. By having strong bonds with other family members too it gives me a reassurance if anything were to happen.

I used to love spending the school holidays with my paternal grandparents. Single working mother, father long gone. I think we had a landline call once a week.

I'm with you. I wouldn't have done that in a million years.

Whilst we didn't go for every holiday, we did go to my grandparents house for a few weeks in the summer holidays without our parents. They are some of my happiest memories, I absolutely loved going to stay with them.

Edited to add my parents were amazing and we were very close. But I loved those holidays so much.

Not if the parents are working. If the parents are working then the children need someone to be looking after them.

Employed people get annual leave! And most self employed people can take at least afew weeks off surely.
And even if they did work every day,
why can't the grandparents come down and stay then the parents can still be with the kids evenings and weekends?!
Sounds like an excuse for 6 weeks child free to me! Hence why it's so sad....and what if one was suddenly taken seriously ill 300 miles from home too!

If kids are fully bonded with their grandparents why not?

Sadly both sets of grandparents too old to take the kids for weeks at a time. My mom definitely did this for my nieces and nephews (unfortunately I am the youngest and had my dc late), and all of them look back very fondly on their long summers with grams. Instead I am looking at residential camps. This summer dc (8) will do a week, but assuming it goes well next year we will book in for 3-4 weeks, including one abroad. I would love to be able to spend the summer with them, but with both parents working it ends up being weeks and weeks of holiday club, which is tedious. Sending them away is the best way of ensuring they have the best summer possible and aren’t just stuck in child care.

ironically in light of the other thread on overnights, we were a family that never had their children spend a night outside the family home until they did a one night residential last summer. I would love a middle ground where we had family who could take them periodically- less for my own benefit and more for theirs as it would mean they were spending more time in a family setting and less time in childcare.

It’s not how I would do things. I think children need their parents and agree with you OP it’s too long. But like pps have said, some children are v close to their GPs and if so they may have a great experience.