To not understand the "holidays with small children is just parenting in a different place" complaints?

I don’t do a 5 day stretch either! 😆

4 days 9.30-3 and bloomin love it

Yeah that sounds nice. When my children were little we usually went camping in the UK. It almost always rained. I still had to cook most evenings. It could be difficult to get the kids to go to sleep because being in a tent was so exciting. There was no balcony or cocktails and the weather often wasn’t good enough to sit outside of an evening so DH and I would be in the tent with them trying to read by torchlight. The child who used to get up at 5am at home still got up at 5am on a campsite. To be fair the kids absolutely loved it and that was the main thing. I look back on those trips fondly now but they were hard work at the time and not really a holiday for me.

We were able to do a couple of self-catering trips abroad when the kids were a bit older. Those were lovely but both kids are very fair so we had to negotiate to get them out of the pool so they could spend a few hours in the shade in the hottest part of the day. The faff of suncream and hats was no more fun in the Med than it was at home. I still had to cook at least half the evenings. And the child who got up at 5am still got up at 5am in Portugal and in Croatia. 😂

An all inclusive with one well-behaved child sounds like a different thing altogether.

Well I took my young niece and nephew on a few holidays after their mum died. They were aged between 4 and 10 across the 3 trips.we made in 4 years and I enjoyed all.of them. They are both NT and the holidays were lovely.

A few years later, taking my ASD and ADHD child on holiday was a completely different experience. I have not had a holiday with DS that was not very stressful since he was a tiny baby. Our trip to the US for the first 6 months of his life was tiring but OK but as his issues became clearer and he could express himself more holidays became very very stressful and almost not worth it.

Nowadays he is an adult and he is still reasonably stressful to go on holiday with

Thankfully many years ago now it’s just DH n I having earned our stripes now doing road trips and luxury flop n drops. Glad we did the hols but 3/4 kids is nothing like 1.

But you’re out 6am-7pm 4 days a weeks…. That sounds… well, hats off I couldn’t and wouldn’t do it

Been there done that with twins the toddler and a six year old also
they had a ball, hard work for us though x

Will you be so keen on weekend working when your little one is at school?

People are probably talking about holidays with small children. Not one child.
I found going on holiday with one 18 month old fine but with a baby and toddler harder. I did once see someone at center parcs with baby twins and toddler twins. Looked hard work

I’m with you OP, i appreciate maybe we were lucky but she was great on holiday, went to sleep fine and we sat on the balcony, some evenings slept in the pushchair at the bar (sat away from the stage etc so not too loud)
Now at 9 she stays up to watch any entertainment so we don’t need to go sit in the room, she’s done this since about 5, will just take a nap on a lounger the next day if tired.
Glad you had a good holiday, i love ours.

A lot of people regret having children but of course can’t openly admit it.

Well aren’t you smug.

My idea of a good holiday is getting smashed on cocktails from 11am and sleeping all afternoon then staying up all night in NYC/LA.

Or going trail riding (horses) in the mountains in all weathers and getting lost.

Funnily enough neither is very compatible with small children. So I don’t bother.

You couldn’t pay me to do a boring generic package holiday, but you do you @LadyGreyjoy

I think when people say this, often what they mean is "We go on holiday and I do all the work of childcare, and all the work before we've even left of planning what the child needs, and all the packing for the whole family, and my DH just decides he's On His Holidays and therefore does bugger all".

I always enjoyed holidays with little kids with a few notable exceptions - a vomity week in Cornwall was unfun - but I was a lonely SAHM so it was nice to have dh around as company. I have always enjoyed a change more than a rest so holidays for me are about seeing new things and being somewhere different and I kept my expectations low because spending so much time with the kids meant I was v aware of what wouldn't work.

I can quite see how if holidays for someone else are lounging by the pool or in the beach with a book, pottering around little villages and trying new foods, or sophisticated art galleries and city breaks, holidays would feel a really disappointing waste of precious annual leave. I like those things too but they are not my main holiday thing which is just being somewhere else quite honestly. Additionally everything is usually fine until one or more kids decides this is the week they're going to be a MASSIVE PAIN IN THE ARSE and you are trying to be sympathetic/gentle but inwardly seething that this is your fucking holiday too. Unfortunately that happens to most people at some point.

I'm glad you had a nice holiday but I don't think other people are failing at it, just having a different experience.

Agree OP. We had 2/3 holidays a year either DS from age of 14 months to 15 years and never ever felt it was just parenting in a different place. We really had so many fabulous trips.
Even as a moody teen who sat in shade all day, we had great evenings and made brilliant memories

I wouldn’t have missed those trips for the world

I've always enjoyed holidays with DS, from a baby to older. That includes caravan parks in the UK, SC abroad, AI abroad, long haul, Short haul, cruises. I'm definitely not what someone would call a natural mother either 🤣 so I personally don't get it what people say it's not worth bothering going on holiday with kids.

You both work weekends? That must be hard.

I think it’s the type of holiday you have and the type of child you’ve got OP. I’ve loved our holidays with DD (3.5) as we are very lucky that:

• when we have gone abroad we’ve been fortunate to be able to go to a nice all-inclusive, so it’s meant delicious food 24/7 and no cleaning/tidying up/laundry for a week. As we’ve been to the same place, DD asked to go to the kids club this year as she remembered enjoying it last time so we also had a couple of hours to ourselves in the day. This is not our parenting it’s luck
• we love camping, DD luckily also loves it and when we’ve gone we have had nice weather (somehow!)
• DD sleeps well wherever she is and doesn’t need a routine to do so, so she can be up late without being ratty - and usually she just sleeps in a bit later the next morning
• DD eats most things, and likes to sit and do stickers etc at the table, so eating out is (usually) an enjoyable experience. This is not our parenting it’s her personality
• DD is an only child and will remain that way 😂

If I was stuck in a rainy self catering accommodation with multiple small children who didn’t sleep well away from home, didn’t cope without routine, weren’t suited to eating out, and were arguing with me/each other all day I’d wish I’d saved the money and stayed home too.

haha agreed - bless!
’one is such fun’ -yup- but come back when they are 6, the youngest is 18 months and there’s one or two in the middle - carnage lol!!!

Ah yeah, I'm sure you do.

I don't disagree OP but I think many people think of holidays as relaxing which is never the case when young children are involved hence they think the former as they aren't spending all day chilling out with a book on a sun lounger.

I personally love holidays with my children but I don't go with expectations. As long as they are having fun I'm happy.
We have avoided Spain etc though due to the late eating hours and my children turning into hungry demons in Menorca as a result!