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.

We went to Spain for Easter and got stuck due to Icelandic ash cloud. Coach journey back from southern Spain, ferry, coach to airport and a train home.

Then same year flew to Lapland for the day. As we descended we got diverted to Glasgow (we'd flown from Gatwick!) and coach back to Gatwick.

Wasn't the most successful year for holidays but I appreciate I was lucky to have them in the first place!

We ran a film night at DSs primary school as we were raising funds for the PTA. Descended into to chaos as some parents left their kids alone and went shopping (they were told they'd had to be supervised) and 2 families had a food fight! The Head said never again!!!

Worst, turning maybe 31 and having two small children, maybe 4&5. Took them to see Cars Fire and Rescue (U) on the actual day.

I felt I should do something, but we had no babysitters so that was that. Something child friendly, to make it feel like we'd done something. It was also their first cinema trip...

The film ended with a 10 minute scene of a huge inferno where the cars and various other things were trying to rescue other characters.
Both my children were terrified, traumatised and sobbing.
I think we didn't do the cinema again for about 5 years!

Our Santa trips were fantastic though. Very low key at a quiet NT property when they'd first started doing them.

Trying to recreate "Going on a bear hunt" with ds1 as a toddler. Did nothing but grizzle and then howl. I couldn't work out whether he was scared of seeing a bear or frustrated at not seeing a bear so not sure which words of comfort to offer. Bloody awful morning which ended up with me puking in a bush (8 weeks pregnant).

@Hellocatshome Just wondering, did anyone stop and ask if the child was okay? I have always taught my kids to shout this at the top of their lungs if anyone tried taking them and always wondered what those around would do.

Yes they did. I got some very funny looks from most people. One lady came over and asked friends DD if she was OK and while I was talking to her security came as well so presumably people had alerted them.

We face timed friend who was in the same shopping centre who spoke to her DD and me and security on face time and everyone calmed down. But we waited with security until friend came to meet us.

Low and behold when friend came to meet us her DD said I dont want to go home with you Mummy I want to go home with Auntie Hello!!!

Firework display last year. It was absolutely hammering with rain but the venue hadn't cancelled, we'd got tickets so we were going.

We parked in a mud bath, squelched to the 'arena' where there was music and food tents. One lost welly stuck in the mud (retrieved but soaking foot and trousers), one falling over flat on face in the mud (completely covered in said mud), one lost purse in the same bloody mud (cue tears and hysteria), watched the fireworks, squelched back and then had to have the car towed out of mud bath by a tractor.

Youngest was 51, eldest was 75!

It does say outside 'Your car will be damaged'... 😉😮

Adventure park with softplay lift from friend there dc got sick for 3 hrs she had to watch 4yo dc2.
Holiday outside swimming pool shut whole time for renovation

I've never had a day out that's been an unrivalled disaster from end to end, but there have been Moments:

3 year old DS2 pissing himself copiously in the queue for tickets at the Didcot Railway Centre (think small lake around his feet);

Having to designate a Naughty Tree at Marwell Zoo for 4 year old DS1 to sit under and think about his actions, he was being such a little git;

One memorable occasion at a very MC campsite at a chateau in Normandy, where I had unwisely agreed to letting 8 year old DS1 buy a small penknife at the supermarket, to only be used for bushcraft purposes and under strict supervision. He ran ahead as I was unloading the car, and I found him running around with his little cronies waving the knife wildly at them. While I was disarming and bollocking him, 3 year old DS2 calmly dropped his pants and laid a massive turd on the manicured lawn outside the toilets.

Upon arrival at the Capitoline Hill in Rome, 13 year old DS looked at the forum spread out below him and said "Have you brought me all this way to look at a load of old stones?". Which precipitated a 49 year old tantrum 😆

Also, they have both, separately, puked in swimming pools, sparking mass evacuations.

Went to 'be a badger' event at Kew gardens with toddler DS and baby DD.. toddler rarely wanted to leave the house so I had managed to convince him it would be great. Took us a long time to find the human size constructed badger set, DS was terrified there would be real badgers .. but equally insisted on going in to be disappointed that there were no real badgers and that we did not turn into badgers.. so we could not actually 'be a badger'.. I managed to convince him we could go to the shop and buy a bagder toy.. assuming there would have been some coordinated planning and be some badger merchandise.. no toy badgers... so I decided I would find a book about badgers in the extensive kids book section .. after much searching found a book with a picture of a badger on one page.. having traipsed over and back between several locations across Kew Gardens.. I was thoroughly unimpressed at how poorly the event orgamisers understood their target toddler audience.

Previous years I booked a santa steam train thing near us.

This year I haven't bothered. DD is alternately throwing a strop because I haven't booked the nice thing. If I say I will book it she throws a strop because she doesn't like either trains or meeting Father Christmas. Sigh.

@Hellocatshome I can only imagine, how embarrassing that would have been, I could totally see my niece or nephew trying to pull that stunt on me, I would be mortified 😆

Good to hear that it does actually have others around reacting though 😊

When my first DS was about 2 he hated the buggy but a group from mothers group were going to the zoo. It’s a big zoo and I thought he’d get tired so I took the buggy. What followed was basically three hours of me running behind a sprinting child who only wanted to push the buggy himself, yelling “look a zebra”. He also screamed bloody murder if I attempted to put him in it or push it myself. Occasionally I would see my friends all holding small children’s hands as they quietly looked at monkeys while I ran, disheveled and red faced behind my miniature Linford Christie.

The amount of people on here who think kids will have a great day looking round a national trust property 🤣

What it is with ice skating?

Went with extended family, including siblings who try to outdo one another. I got caught in the middle of them showing off either side of me. One fell which caused a domino effect, and I cracked my coxxyx.

Decided to take the DC and a friend through a game park doing self drive, I don't know what the car in front had done, but had clearly upset a male elephant who was charging their car whilst they were reversing ...towards us coming around a corner Hence us now us also into reverse and trying to get around the corner. Cue screaming DC and one not even mine, had to explain to the mother that we got charged by a bloody great African elephant. To be fair I was screaming a little inside but had to have the brave face on. Everyone wanted to go home after that. Had the lunch packed in the boot and driven two hours to get there. Wasn't a great day for spotting much, except a very angry ear flapping chappy.

Then there was the paintball party where one child almost lost an eye. I have never seen an eyeball bleed before.

My DC are in their 20s now so I have many many mishap days.

Baking features highly. It's one of those 'fun' things we were told makes for great parenting. It doesn't. It causes rows, upsets, disappointments, burnt food and a great mess to clean up. We decided buying them and eating the bought wares calmly, a much better plan.

This thread is very funny though.

I remember one of ds1's birthday parties that went horribly pear shaped very quickly. The memory is a blur, but what stands out is the highly-sensitive little girl who had to be coaxed into coming with her mum...she got repeatedly pied in the face by a gang of marauding little boys armed with jam tarts. It was awful.

Overpriced Christmas lights thing, the sort that books up months in advance and creates next year’s Christmas card photo in the tunnel of lights. #makingmemories
asked DN which bit he liked best……”jumping in the puddles”

Dunham Massey light trail 2 years ago. It was apocalyptic-style raining and once you're on the trail you have to walk all the way round. There were no shelters to hide for a moment, the drainage had failed so puddles became lakes, my 2 year old was screaming because he was so wet and cold. When we got to the car we just had to strip him off and wrap him in a blanket. Never been so wet in my life. TBF to the National Trust they gave us a voucher for the following year because it had been so awful.

The following year there was no rain but it was minus 5. It was better but eventually DC were crying with the cold. This year I've only booked indoor activities. We clearly have no luck with the outdoor ones!

It’s funny, we do all these “lovely” things with them when they’re small but I reckon my kids fave days were when the park nearby had massive puddles and they rode their scooters repeatedly through them and had to go home in just pants. Or the times we stopped for an impromptu play somewhere on a summer evening, or ate chips on the beach.
However, now mine are older, generally the more expensive days out are much more fun as they have some input into them. We’ve had brilliant days at NT places or other historical places and my 13 year old will regale me with things he’s learnt in classics or history. I remember we took them to Paris when they were stupidly young, about 4 and 6 and all they remember is the ice cream we had and marvelling at the fact I could speak French. But we went to Barcelona and Greece this year and they absolutely loved it and got much more out of it.

Ha similar here, took dsd to a wildlife park and in the middle of an amazing bird show, piped up and asked when could she go on the swings! May as well taken her to a local park!

That was in reply to HamsterBanana - I did click reply so not sure why it didn't quote the post!

I lost ds aged 2 on a crowded beach. I had turned to deal with other 2 wanting things and when I turned he was just gone. I started to search around me and was cold with fear, I started crying and some people came over to help and looked around too. Dh was in the sea and oblivious.

It must have been 3 or 4 mins until she was found but I was hysterical and I wet myself whilst people stared at me.

The harder you try, the more you've built something up as it'll be really good, or the more you've spent, the worse it will go. Even if the attraction/event is objectively actually really nice and should be fun for X age group, fate will intervene and the child in question will be ill or grouchy or will suffer a minor injury or slight than means they're in a horrendous tantrummy mood throughout.

Pay £££ for a family day out a long drive away and you will feel obliged to make the most of it even if it all goes tits up five minutes in. Pay nothing for kids to wander round B&Q collecting paint sample cards and going in and out of the sheds and shower cubicles, no problemo, they'll have a blast.