To cancel next holiday?

Children really do not need a pool and a kids club to have an enjoyable holiday.

Nothing wrong with using a kids club if that works for you and your family, but it’s absolutely not necessary.

I always found UK holidays harder work than foreign ones.

I don’t think you’re doing yourself any favours with your choice of holiday. Children need a kids club and a pool with activities and other children, otherwise I’d expect them to get bored and demanding very quickly. A private pool in self catering is lovely, but that means you need to be involved with the play pretty much all the time and do all the work you’d have to do at home, which isn’t a holiday.

There’s a reason AI holiday villages are popular.

I agree, children shouldn’t be endlessly entertained and stimulated, they should have the opportunity and space to find ways to occupy themselves.

I didn’t say they shouldn’t be bored, I said they shouldn’t be allowed to say that they are bored.

There’s always something to do if you expend a little bit of effort and imagination.

And learning to be happy in your own head e.g while on a long journey or in a queue is an important life skill.

I found that offering my children household chores to do if they ever approached “I’m bored” territory was extremely effective.

Actually, it’s good for kids to be bored.

Rather than downgrade your expectations of holidays I would suggest (kindly) that you should upgrade your expectations of your children.

They are old enough not to be behaving this way, and to be told so.

Whinging is a choice and shouldn’t ever be acceptable.

There are also lots of benefits from raising your children to never ever use the words “I’m bored”

I’m pretty astonished at the notion that children don’t enjoy castles and historical sites. 😆😆

Knight, kings and queens, cannons, wars, blood curdling stories of battles, human sacrifices, sieges and sword fights and boiling oil. Spiral staircases and battlements, fireplaces big enough to stand in, stone circles and hill forts, beautiful cathedrals built by hand, ancient temples and tombs. Kids love this stuff 😆

It just takes a wee bit of preparation, a smidge of imagination and a good story.

I agree with choosing somewhere abroad that is more child focused. Eurocamp style holidays (look up Yelloh Village in France) are ace. You stay in a lodge and have more space. Flexibility to eat out or in, handy when the kids are grumpy.

Along with beaches and pools, there are kids clubs, multiple playgrounds, evening entertainment, lots of family sports on site too.

The dc don’t sound like they have attitudes. They just need directing more. We always went where there was a pool and a beach and they spent so much time in the water they were exhausted by late afternoon. We didn’t then drag them to dinner late.

Cancel it. Find somewhere closer you can go to in the car, ask your kids where they would like to visit. There is no rule that says a holiday needs to be a fortnight in the sun.

I think sometimes we have unrealistic expectations of kids on holiday. Even in the best of circumstances kids will have a moan, not want to do whatever and be a bit disengaged - that doesn’t change because they’re in a different place.

I still think family holidays are worthwhile but I’d definitely choose a venue geared to kids with clubs and activities, not least to give yourself a break.

We’ve always made sure the kids know that it’s our holiday too so to suck it up if they’re bored at times. Don’t know if that would work on all DCs but it worked for ours. When we went abroad we’d have a couple of beach/pool days for the DCs and then a walking around the city day for us. We’d bribe them with £1 toys and ice creams but basically they had to indulge us for a day if they wanted another day at the beach.

Change the holiday to a week - that’s long enough. Do they generally get on well with each other or not or would they prefer to make friends with other kids and do activities and not have to play with just each other as that would affect decision on whether to go all inclusive type place or somewhere smaller…

lower your expectations so what if they don’t want to do loads of activities all day, let them have some chill time - it’s their holiday too and if they are chilled then you can chill. We take the usual travel board games, dobble, uno, snakes and ladders, take some colouring stuff, books, some new craft kits like sewing a Teddy or similar but we also take the iPads and download some Disney films/minions so when they need a break from the sun/pool they have options. We don’t take the iPads to dinner but I am relaxed if they need some downtime on them in the afternoon! Also if they want to plain pasta or plain nuggets and chips every night for a week it won’t kill them. No point stressing over them eating healthily or fruit and veg and creating a battle you can get back to normal routine when you are home.

From experience I'd maybe pick a different hotel with kids entertainment etc. I absolutely love Crete but you can't appreciate all the amazing historical sites with wingy children. I'd do an A.I and just have the odd day out to somewhere like knossos. Entertained kids equals relaxed parents.

I never thought I'd enjoy A.I but there is definitely a place for it when you have children. My dd has always been fussy with food but with A.I she can just pick and choose what she wants. She also loved the evening mini disco at that age. Games around the pool etc.

I wouldnt go on that holiday no
You'd be better in one with a club, other kids, near beach.
And accept its not a holiday with wee kids it's the same shit with sun and ants and added risk of drowning

Spend the money on your house. Save some cash for childcare centres with activities for them and then you and your dh can do some local day trips just the two of you.

They won't care if you cancel. You will care ? Because you want to go somewhere nice?

I really do not think that holidays should be dictated or spoiled by whining children. They are old enough to understand that Mum and Dad work hard and like to go on holidays. And pay a lot of money for them too. Whilst there will be plenty of activities and things for them to see and do, sometimes they might think it’s “boring” but there is to be no whining, because it’s a holiday for everyone. Rinse and repeat until it sinks in.

Cancel. Make it clear to your children at some point why.

Crete in October will definitely not be too hot!

I'd cancel, it sounds like too much hard work. It'll be too hot, plus the travelling. Stick to day trips.

We've always taken the children to places like castles, museums and other historic sites because that's what we like to do on holidays and because they all have parts of them of interest to children.

Holidays are for all of us. They don't always enjoy all of it but we don't particularly enjoy the days we spend the entire day at the pool which they do so it's a compromise.

OP's holiday sound very child-focussed and entirely appropriate. Whatever the one place was that she wanted to go would have been alnost certainly somewhere I'd expect most children to be able to enjoy.

And the planned holiday in Crete sounds great too. It doesn't have to be a big hotel pool for them to enjoy themselves.

So what if they whinge a bit. They clearly did enjoy themselves. A bit of whinging is par for the course.

I agree with this. I’ve found Crete weather to be a bit iffy outside of high season.

Perhaps it was all a bit much for them and a bit too exciting? Kids can get overstimulated and grumpy at that age and need to do not very much. Mine were happiest with a pool or beach and nice weather, not loads of planned activities. Or somewhere like the Isle of Wight where you can go to the zoo one day and have a quieter day the next. We did take them to castles and on walks where there was some moaning! Also let them pick things to do and feel they have some choice.

We don't go for a the big family-themed hotels. As long as there are a few activities on, decent food and not too mad on sunbed wars, kids have enough to do.

We tend to do a week rather than 10 days.

Definitely go but lower your expectations. Kids will never get better on holiday if they don't practice.

I think some of the bad behaviour could be down to feeling a little anxious (the "I want to go home" comments - I recognise them from my own kid when she was younger, and it was down to that). You won't overcome that unless they become practiced travellers.

Actually,I would downgrade the holiday to ones that’s more cheap and cheerful. We stayed at a s/catering place in Eloubda, literally across from the beach and very much a 2/3 star and my boys , then 2 & 7 loved it. I think it was Tasmania Village.
The owners love kids and they do lovely traditional food, although my 2 seemed to live of gyros and chips.
spinalonga ferry is close by and that’s a nice little trip, 25-30 minute stroll into Elounda along the coast road is very safe.
It’s just a nice chill atmosphere and no demands on kids to do anything except play in the beach and pool. Sometimes they play up when parents want them to do ‘interesting’ stuff.