I don’t think there’s any need to think the other family will feel awkward about you hosting their child or that you need to make excuses for paying. Anyone inviting another child on their holiday, can be assumed to have chosen a holiday that they are happy to cover the price of another child for….or they wouldn’t have invited them!
It is lovely for the child invited, but the main beneficiaries are the family inviting that child. It’s often only children and it makes the holiday more pleasant for everyone…so it is totally the host families choice….and the style and expense of the holiday is too.
I find it hard to believe that people think the other family should be paying or asked if they would like to pay. How awkward. The hosts family holiday was not their choice. Especially if it’s an expensive holiday or their own finances are tight and might be impacted by paying for their child to go, why would another family put them in that position…when it’s themselves as hosts who want to do it and who get the advantage.
Weve taken several kids away with us over the years. It was usually to UK based cottages where there was a spare bed and the costs to us included eating out most days and various activities. I think it’s pretty easy for people to accept a holiday like that for their child. I wouldn’t have been asking another child on an expensive holiday with long haul flights, as I wouldn’t have wanted to cover those kid of costs, but I know some people would.
It’s important not to come across as being Lady Bountiful, when offering or talking about money, especially if your own family circumstances are better than the other families. Quickly making clear youre covering it is important, but making it sound like a big act of charity isn’t good. Focus on how your own family will love their company and that simply bringing some spending money would be useful for the child.
We’ve accepted such invitations for our children too. We always give the child a decent amount of spending money and tell them to offer to buy some ice creams etc, but to accept if the family do t want to accept and want to cover everything. That’s what some people want to do and it is good to be a gracious receiver. Generally, kids don’t have a problem in accepting adults paying, as that’s what happens all the time.
Once one of our children was invited with 4 others to the holiday home of a school friend which was abroad. The host asked us to book the flights and then covered all the food and entertainment….and they had a marvellous time. It was different because a whole group had been invited and that family spent the whole summer at their holiday home…it wasn’t the same as taking one child away on your family week away. That family had several kids and over the years, each of the kids had weeks when they could invite several friends at a time, and they’d clearly found it worked for people to pay their own flight (could be got pretty cheaply) but to then host some lovely activities. My child still remembers that holiday hugely fondly. He was very lucky.