Nice activities or outings you've done with the kids that have turned into an absolute shitshow

[Silverstoat]

Bought the Hedgehog biscuit kit from Asda for a nice Sunday afternoon activity with the kids. Instead of a cookie cutter it's a hedgehog drawn on the inside of the box that you're supposed to cut out and use as a stencil 🤨 cue meltdowns from both dc as its impossible to cut out details in wet biscuit dough. Ds dropped a big piece of dough that was immediately gobbled up by ddog, I breathed in the icing powder and almost had an asthma attack, and then to top it all off they tasted like shit.

😂😂😂

Sorry but this made me cackle!

Without absolute failure for the past 16 years, if ever I have tried to take my DS crab fishing, which I've managed to do with my other DS's, but my eldest, it will piss down. Even on the most sunny day with 0% of rain, we set up our stuff and hailstone or a tornado or some shit appears. He says it's now a sign we should never go crabbing. I think it'll be a useful super power one day.

Bought ds a "build your own robot" one Christmas. I had visions of us cuddling up after Christmas dinner building it together and playing with it.
Except the stupid thing was incredibly fiddly and difficult to build and almost ruined Christmas Day because we got so frustrated with it.
Then we had another go at it on Boxing Day (sheer bloody mindedness by this point!) actually managed to finish it only to discover that it didn't work properly due to a tiny part having a loose connection. So it just sort of winked at us a spun round in circles.

Not DC fault was OH fault. Had an Apt at the hospital - 2 hours drive away so decided to make the best of it. Town has a beach so decided to go take DC first time in 13 months he has been.
I was busy getting myself ready for said apt so left OH to get DC ready. Got in the car and off we went. Arrived and took DC out of the seat. No shoes. And it has started to rain.
Went to Apt and DH said lets take DC to the beach - in the rain with no shoes. DC is barely 2 years old. Ok sure we can have a look from the car or outside the car quickly.
DC had the biggest meltdown as he wanted to play on the beach - in the rain and run into the water. Was miserable and upset the whole journey home.

I never ever after that let OH get DC ready for any outing!

Tree lighting, was very busy, queues for everything. H didn’t want to queue so just walked up and down for a few minutes then said let’s leave. DD epic meltdown understandably, then it somehow turns into my fault as I was walking back to the car. Erm like he told us too. Will leave him at home next year. Took DD for mani pedi next day as I’d promised and she said this is so much more fun than last night. 💯

That was purely down to your dh being a bit of a nob then?
My dad was always like this growing up...took queues as a personal insult and expected to walk straight in.
Luckily my mum would happily wait with us in queues and knew to send dad off on a mission that meant he missed the waiting time.
We shouldn't really have to baby fully grown men though 🙄

I took my 13yo and my 1yo to our favorite bookstore/coffeeshop for the first time since 1yo started walking. I imagined picking out books together with my 1yo and reading them together at the tiny little table and chairs just her size. Instead, when I started to pick out a book and show her, she was gone. I ran all over the store in a panic, imagining someone casually picking her up and taking her to their car and leaving with her forever. I saw my 13yo and practically yelled "Help me find your sister!" not even caring how crazy I looked. I saw an employee and frantically asked something like "Have you seen my baby!?!" in the craziest way possible. He pointed at some double doors with an "Employees Only" sign on top while laughing. I ran through the doors and found my DD standing in the middle of a ring of young male employees, who were all giggling and delighted. DD had found a cart of books about to be shelved, and picked out an Elmo potty training book, the kind with buttons that play sounds. One of them said, "She found what she wanted!" I was so embarrassed. We went to the coffeeshop part to sit down and relax for a bit, but there was no seating for someone her size, so I had to hold her, while she violently thrashed around and screamed because we had passed so many fun looking things for sale on the way over. I have never felt like a cliche frazzled mother in public before but I became the definition that day. Of course I bought her the book, but I now have to hear "Elmo can go potty!! (creepy laugh)" 5000 times a day. She has been eager to potty train since then. But the thought of going to that store ever again makes me shudder.

Yes he seems to have more difficulty with crowds as he gets older. Felt sorry for her and pissed off with him. I’m always happy to wait with the DC and follow through on anything I’d said we’d do. To top if off, we missed the actual lighting of the tree as we went after dinner 😂 to be fair they didn’t say the exact time Santa would light it just a 3hr window.

We went to a national trust property during covid. To limit numbers inside the house we had to buy timed tickets, so we wandered around outside until it got to the correct time. At this point, everyone at the place all joined the queue together. There had been zero queue all the time we'd been there, and suddenly it was massive. I can only assume that everyone's tickets had the same time on them, which seems a little counter productive from a covid perspective? Waited in the queue for over an hour. House was ok.

Sat outside for lunch at the cafe. It got really windy and friend's DD's glass drink bottle fell over on the table and smashed - little bits of glass in everyone's food. Then DD got her finger stuck inside her coke can - WTF? What was she doing?! We had to yank it out, cutting her in the process.

You have to laugh or you'd cry!

Ohhhhh I’m really worried now - we booked tickets for the Kew Gardens Christmas light walk thing. We live almost diagonally across London from Kew Gardens and it’s a Sunday evening. Not sure what we were thinking.

Took the kids to Blackpool to see the illuminations one year.

Went too early in the afternoon really so it felt like forever waiting for it to go dark for the lights to come on. Which was our first mistake.

We didn't check the forecast either, it started raining, second mistake.

Got to about 7pm wandering up and down thinking when are these lights going to come on?!

Eventually asked in a chippy if they know when the lights are coming on.

They gently let us know that the previous weekend was the last weekend of the year.
Third mistake - not being aware the lights don't actually stay on throughout the winter period.

Apparently they stay on till January now

My elder son is now 16 and has ASD. Took me years to realise a lovely Christmassy or summer holiday trip to covent garden with the buskers was a BAD IDEA. He's perfectly fine at home and school but that particular place is just too stimulating and he spent every single trip interrupting every performance and running off. And then fixating on some random overpriced tat. So fucking stressful why did I keep doing it year after year 🤣

@GorgeousLadyofWrestling we have always enjoyed our trips to the Kew lights. BUT it
is very very crowded and the food stands are extortionate.

Oh and every stately home or National Trust sort of place all he wanted to do was throw gravel. Should have just got a bag of gravel from B&Q for a fiver and let him crack on.

The Harry Potter Studio tour with DSs 9 and 12. DS1 quite enjoyed it, but DS2 sped-walked through each area, refusing to look at anything and announcing he'd 'finished' in each bit before anyone else had had a chance to look around. He kept vanishing trying to find the exit. I was stereotypical Frazzled Parent that day.

£200 for tickets, plus train and hotel on top of that 😭

Having teens and a toddler is a bit of a nightmare for family outings. We went to a theme park for dd 15th birthday. Ds was 2. He had so many meltdowns (later diagnosed with asd) he couldn't cope. Dd cried and we threw £100 on this birthday 'treat'

Done many a National trust that led to ds laid in mud screaming with the dog going mental and us freezing and miserable wondering why it's just us.

Ah the fireworks. Last year we went to a lovely village show that was about £20 for a family, on time and delightful.

this year for some bizarre reason I got sucked in by the advertising for a ‘light show’ and fireworks set to music at a local stately home. Omg the crowds! The carpark was in a muddy field and just rammed. The start time for the fireworks came round with the DJ hyping everyone up (including playing the Venga Bus). Start time comes and goes and the DJ comes on to say due to delays getting into the carpark some people were yet to arrive so they were going to delay it by 30 mins. Fine. Kids still in ok mood. But we, along with everyone else, took the opportunity to visit the portaloos. Huge queues for those plus they were dirty and had no lights so everyone was having to use their phone torch to see what they were doing.

fireworks started 45 mins late and we along with many families left half way through to get out of the carpark. Even with that head start it took nearly an hour , chaos in the mud with cars all over the place trying to get in queues for the exit.

never bloody again! Horrible and cost a fortune.

Think we bought the same biscuit kit. Remember thinking WTF at the idea of cutting around a piece of card and just digging out whatever animal biscuit cutters I could find. Really dumb design.

I always feel guilty that I don't do many booked activities for mine. They just sound so awful and so much money for being awful.

We had a rubbish time at Warwick Castle, I'd been before once pre kids and it was such a lovely atmospheric place. It's really tacky now, the only good bit was the playground and you can go to other playgrounds for free. Thought my DD might like the princess tower but you can't just go in, you have to book a time slot several hours away so we didn't bother. I'm not a fan of having to micro plan days out by booking small activities in advance.

@GorgeousLadyofWrestling we really enjoyed Kew lights when we did it. Kids were about 6 and 4. It is busy but everyone keeps moving and you don’t have to buy the food - could bring hot chocolate in a thermos etc. they sell fun light up toys which again you could buy much more cheaply in advance and take with you if you like. We loved it and were there at about 5pm on a Friday.

The local primary school next door has a lovely professional fireworks display which we watch from our balcony. Bliss. Don’t even have to leave the house.

Also done the nightmare that is Hamleys at Christmas- honestly if anyone thinks this would be a fun day out give your head a wobble! Gingerbread house, many years of trying because you know it is a Christmassy thing to do but always ends up in tears, mine mostly and a structure that we describe as in need of renovation.
my DM once took ds to a local panto, apparently it was very bad and only years later did she admit she look him out during the interval and told him that it had ended!!

😂

My son getting explosive diahorrea and shitting himself in Thetford forest was a favourite 🤦‍♀️

I properly lost a toddler in the bloody library ending up running round screaming like a mad woman. She was found by two horrible old witches who then proceeded to tell me off 🙄. Honestly I have helped with numerous escaped toddlers and never occurred to me to bollock the terrified parent 🙄.

We took all four of our kids, 17, 16, 11 and 9 to Alton towers. The eldest was poorly with what later turned out to be glandular fever to be fair, and so moaned all day. The youngest turned out to be 1cm too short for lots of the rides. The second youngest moaned about the walking between rides. It rained. The lines were long. 3 of the big rides were shut. Dh moaned about the price of pizza and the lines incessantly. The whole thing cost a small fortune. Never ever again.