Please share your stories of disastrous days out with kids

[Chaosx3x]

Please send solidarity. Just spent an eye-watering amount of money on a day out in London. Took three kids, one cried all the time, one got stuck in a tube station ticket barrier, trains were cancelled, it was insanely busy, had to haul a buggy up and down steps, everyone was thoroughly fed up. Never again! In hindsight it was probably overly ambitious and the DC with SEN was totally overwhelmed. I was really looking forward to it and just feel totally deflated now.

What have been your worst days out with kids? And what’s the most amount of money you’ve spent on a trip/activity that you subsequently feel you may as well have chucked on a bonfire?!

We took my son to Kew Gardens last summer. It's so expensive to get in. He whinged the entire day, with short stops to cry and whinge. Was only happy in the play area which was crammed to the limit with screaming hot children. Even then he kept tellling us he was bored. The queue for ice cream was about 45 mins. It was don't think we'll ever go back - the place is obviously fine but it sticks out as a terrible family day out now!

Many many ‘days out’ ruined by whiny, bored, uncooperative children. Topped off with puking from car sickness.

I stopped bothering in the end. They were much happier banging sticks in the back garden!

The time exh and I were in the south of France with 2 DCs. Borrowed my dad's car to go the aquarium in Monaco. 2yo was prone to car sickness so we brought a bowl. He threw up in the bowl and everywhere else. I had to carry a bowl of vomit on my lap and ended up throwing it out the window at a traffic light.
Visit went ok then exh pranged my dad's car as we parked. By bumping into the neighbours car. Wonderful memories.

The one that stands out most was taking toddler and baby to an outdoor attraction miles from home. It turned out to be a much colder day than we expected. Toddler happy running about and jumping on stuff, baby sleeping in the buggy. Then I looked at her and she was a horrible shade of grey, I honestly thought she was dead. Screamed for DH who gave her a shake and she stirred a bit, she was really cold so coats off and wrapped her up, within 5 minutes she was warm and pink, we of course were both wrecks for quite some time

Not a day out but a dreadful train journey to Scotland. I took DCs from London to Glasgow on my own. Got onto the train fairly uneventfully but within half an hour DS2 said he didn't feel well. Tried to rush him to the toilet but he threw up on the way. He fell asleep on the seats and slept for an hour then had a night terror (prone to these). DS1 was very upset witnessing the night terror. Eventually calmed both down and all seemed to settle for the rest of the journey.

Got off the train in Glasgow and DS1 jumped up onto a low wall, stumbled, swung his arm out and smacked DS2 in the face. His nose erupted with blood and the screaming started again.

These days they're teens and can pretty manage a journey without vomiting or bleeding profusely!

Drove from Wiltshire to my nans in Devon.....took us 10 hours. Spent an hour in a que on the motorway.....turned out it was the que for the services!!;!! Two cranky small children and one banging headache later we finally arrived 🤔🤔

Newborn in sling and 2 year old at ice cream farm / maize maze. 2 year old gave it legs and disappeared into the maze not keeping to the paths. Newborn screaming blue murder explosive nappy all over me. Could hear 2 year old squealing with joy the sound getting further and further away. Found 2 year olds discarded trousers and nappy before I found her half naked having the time of her life. I was absolutely terrified and covered in poo with a screaming baby. Those were the days.

Two stand out.

1. youngest fell in mud, lots of it. No change of clothes and had to go home.
2. Alton Towers, our son's birthday treat and he was about 1cm too short for most of the rides he wanted to go on. He cried for ages but eventually came round. I felt so bad.

Took my 18 month old to Ibiza for a week in a villa with friends with children the same age. All the kids loved it except mine, who hated the pool, hated the beach, hated wearing sun cream, hated eating out, hated the bright daylight. I spent most of my week alone with DC in a room with the curtains closed and the air conditioning on.

Sleepers to go to Scotland, fort william. Train stops half way because of tree on track. It is 3 am and we are offered bus replacement services. I am pregnant and I am travelling with a 6 and a 3 yo.
Both children are sick on the bus. Change of clothes bag forgotten on the train.
Once we get there it rained non stop for the whole 5 days.
On the way back our sleepers back was cancelled. Had to pay for a miserable hotel in Fort William.
Took a day train, had to change in Glasgow and after waiting one hour for the connecting train I realised I had to change station ... missed the connecting train.
When we finally made it home I bought myself the pair of boots I had been eyeing for weeks.

We took toddler DD to a lovely National Trust place 45 mins away. She ran dangerously towards a lake and when we stopped her had the tantrum from hell. We had her back in the car within ten minutes and went home wondering if we were cut out to be parents as we were so shit at it.

The holiday where my children bickered the whole time and absolutely ruined it for us. Spent a fortune. We’d never stay home though because many holidays have been a success and at the end of the day, it’s just families

Paid into an expensive gardens. Youngest ran into the lake with clothes on. In laws (who had paid for us) were in shock as we had to leave straight away (we’d just got there). It was a bit funny in that he just ran in, as in ‘yay, a lake’ and good that he came straight out and we didn’t have to wade in after him

I would tell you but I can’t remember. My body blocked out the memory.
All I remember is that my children were in bed at 7pm, I was in bed crying into my pillow ten minutes later.

Drove for over an hour to take DD (9yo) to Pleasure Wood Hills (Norfolk’s answer to Alton Towers). Rather than being too short for the rides, she was too TALL for all the baby rides which were the only ones she would entertain going on. She was too scared to even go on the carousel. Cried for about an hour after we went in. We paid about £150 for the whole day all in for her to go on one totally boring ride 6 times.

Also had to listen to DH wanging on about how much of a shithole Great Yarmouth is, how the park was scummy, how the rides were terrible and the food was disgusting.

DD has actually asked to go back for her next birthday!

The day out at the local park that ended with me bundling both screaming, overwhelmed, overstimulated children into the car and letting them meltdown while i cried outside the car.

All 3 of us undiagnosed ND at the time.

The other time i took them to the zoo on my own, they were about 4/5 and i slipped over in mud, hurt my back and was covered in mud. While i picked myself up, dc2 completely inexplicably decided to throw his snack into the mud, then had a huge meltdown that he didn't have a snack anymore. That caused me to meltdown. We both calmed down and had a good time after that, me plastered in mud.

Went to London with 11 month old in a massive stupid sized buggy in late November. On a Saturday. Christmas shopping season was in full swing - tubes were rammed, shops were rammed, museums were rammed, and I was trying to squeeze in my time-restricted day trip while lugging a massive buggy everywhere. Half the tube stations didn't have a lift so hauling it up escalators/stairs - absolute NIGHTMARE. Still had a good time in fairness but I definitely learned my lesson there.

Less than two weeks later I took my baby to a local open farm the day after finding out my ex was cheating on me. It pissed down with rain, was freezing cold and I had go keep finding places to go sit down for a wee cry in the wet and cold. That was the most miserable trip.

We discovered DS got travel sick on a three hour drive to Marwell Zoo. He was sick about seven times and went through every single item of clothing we packed for him. I was hoping there would be some shop where I could buy something for him to wear but there wasn't so I had to wash his gross vomity clothes out and dry them with a hand dryer. He then vomited all the way home too.

First big day trip with just me and the kids meant a six year old and a three month old, before then it was little trips out, or with my husband joining us.

I had my phone stolen at the train station before we even left, luckily I had paper train tickets so we could still go. Seat reservations were cancelled so we all had to sit on the floor for the whole journey. Got there and the ticket office couldn’t find our reference so I bought new zoo tickets. Zoo was great and we had a lovely half an hour, then our daughters nappy needed changing and obviously thats when I realised I’d left the changing bag bits at home, luckily I always put an emergency nappy in my sons little rucksack. But it meant no wet wipes etc, there wasn’t any toilet roll in the toilets so I had my son take his vest off, I had to rinse her under the tap to clean her, then used our sons vest to dry her off. Some poor man had to witness it as he was washing his hands, and properly wondering if someone had rinsed a shit smothered baby in the sink he was using.

Our son was six, so had zero filter and made it his lifes mission to tell everyone in the zoo that his sister had a bath in the sink. Thankfully he didn’t add that it was the public toilet sink.

Went to get on the train and put the hood down on the pushchair, two nappies and a lovely pack of wipes were in the hood. Ffs.

DS fell off a tree stump into a sea of cow shit at an NT place. To be honest, the rest of us found it hilarious until we realised how upset he was. This was only a couple of years ago so we a cow shit covered 15 year old stomping around with us.

We didn't dare go into the stately home!

The one where we got so wet we took off our clothes to dry on way home and then were involved in an accident and it was assumed I was high not just completely confused and shaken initially was pretty bad - I didn't cause the wreck but I did look batshit crazy

Or the one where we offended lots of folk bc it hadn't occurred to me that my toddler was shouting swear words in a church (popular church tourists visit) the babble meant something else why I hadn't noticed bc I was hearing what they were actually saying whereas everyone else heard a toddler swearing repeatedly

They were write offs

I used to think I was quite good at birthday parties and prided myself on organising something unusual that my DC and friends loved. Until DDs 13th birthday party

It's an odd age but she still wanted a party rather than just a meal or day out with friends so we agreed on a treasure hunt and BBQ and invited about 10 or 12 friends to a local beauty spot which seemed like a good idea at the time.

I had spent ages the day before making a map and setting up a trail and clues for them to solve in teams but it turned out it was much too hard for them and they didn't find any of the clues and half of them got totally lost. I had taken phone numbers but was completely panicked running around a country park trying to find them from their crap descriptions. Me: 'tell what can you see?' Lost teens 'err some trees?' They all thought it was hilarious.

We called it quits and started the BBQ but it took ages to get going and everyone was complaining about being hungry. It was April and not really BBQ weather and we were all freezing. DD had insisted we needed lots of vegan and vegetarian options but it transpired that principles were no match for the lure of BBQ meat and no-one actually wanted to eat the veggie options so we ran out of burgers and sausages to much complaining.

Finally, in a last ditch attempt to cheer everyone up, I suggested we all go to the cafe for hot chocolate and cakes but by the time we got there it was closed

To be fair to DD she was sweet about it and said everyone had seen the funny side and it wasn't as bad as I thought but I stopped offering to organise parties after that and just give her money to organise her own thing now.

I've also just remembered that I took DS and his mates to an Escape Room and for pizza afterwards for his birthday at about the same age or maybe a bit younger and that was also a complete shit show.

The Escape Room was a bit hard for them to solve and they dicked around being silly and showing off instead of making much effort and then were so loud in Pizza Express that other customers complained and we were asked to move outside. I just had no authority over these teenage lads, could not get them to calm down and wanted the floor to open up. In the end I got the staff to put the rest of the pizza in a box (which they were only too happy to do) and we took it to the park and got ice creams there instead.

Never again. I will definitely never involve myself in any teenage parties ever again.

Bloody Longleat

DS kept moaning as we were driving through. Everyone else loved it

Luckily Longleat has a fabulous petting zoo with animal shows and other things which he loved.

The first time went to Disneyland Paris they were too short for some rides so definitely check height restrictions for theme parks

I dont know what I was thinking with this trip other than that I wasn’t really thinking at all!

DC1 7th birthday and she really wanted to go to the aquarium and planetarium in London. I must admit I’d always fancied the latter so I agreed, and let her bring three friends. As I’d only recently had DC3 one of the other mums said she’d come along to help out. We’d leave my DC2 with my DH.

The day before, DH comes down with the worse sickness and diahrrea I’ve ever known. He was in no fit state to look after crazy DC2 so he has to come along. Ok no problem, the more the merrier.

The day arrives and the other mum said her DD had been feeling a bit sicky but she was fine. I’d hired a minibus because it worked out cheaper than the train and all the journey up she was being sick. Get to the planetarium and the other mum said she thought her DD should stay outside because she was still feeling ill, and she’d take the others into the planetarium. Before I had a chance to say anything (like I’ve always wanted to go there) she took them all in leaving me with her sicky daughter and my baby.

They eventually come out and tell me how great it was. We then had lunch, after the other mum said she didn’t want to go where we’d planned so ended up somewhere more expensive, and then the aquarium. My crazy DC2 kept running off, and she kept tutting saying I had no control. From the woman who left her sicky daughter outside the planetarium.

The minibus got a parking ticket because other mum swore blind we could park where we did (I had doubts) and refused to contribute saying she had come to help me out and didn’t think it should cost her anything.

Then the following day I get the sickness bug!