to have not enjoyed this family holiday? am i completely selfish and just an AWFUL parent?

[dirtyface]

went away last week with dh and our 2 dcs aged 4 and 7

its the first time we have been away as a whole family (for various reasons) and i was really looking forward to it. but mostly it was hard work and pretty shit.

the kids are usually pretty good at home. but on holiday, they played up, fought, acted spoilt, constantly demanded things, moaned that things were "boring" , pissed about at bedtime till all hours as they were so excited, woke us up early every morning, we barely got 2 minutes together. and managed one shag the whole time so i was grumpy and irritable, as was DH. and we absolutely haemorraged money on god knows what so both of us were a bit stressed cos of that.

and most things we did were pretty boring for us as they were child focused. so i was EXHAUSTED and miserable by the time we got home and had never been so glad to be home from a holiday in all my life

is this what its like? i bet we spent two grand all in (that includes paying for the actual holiday itself). and for what?

the kids had a good time at least i might add!

sorry if i sound a massive ungrateful so and so - am prepared to be told i am

[noblegiraffe]

I'm really looking forward to our holiday next week, Haven with a 3 year old and 5 month old. I'm on maternity leave so used to entertaining them all day and looking forward to doing it in different surroundings with activities on tap and DH to help out.

Those with older kids saying how relentless it all is - are older kids harder to entertain or have you just got used to not having to deal with them all the time since they started school?

[Bonsoir]

This year DP and I are going away for 10 child-free days of total relaxation in a culturally different environment, to get away from daily life. DD and DSS2 are currently on a four-week activity bonanza holiday and will be very happy to chill on their return, when we go on a family holiday all together. So we will already be rested and they will already be activitied-out, and we should be able to hang out together and enjoy ourselves in the house/pool we have rented with another family.

[Wallison]

I love holidays! One thing I've noticed is that I'm much more relaxed and chilled out with DS than I am at home - always try to keep that holiday feeling going when we're back but don't quite seem to manage it. But when we're away, I love every minute of it. We do self-catering, so that we don't spend a fortune on food and in the evening once he's gone to bed I can relax on my own and read a book or watch telly or whatever - I think that bit is crucial, actually. Have done shorter breaks staying in hotels and it's no fun having to wait for him to go to sleep and creeping round the room once he is etc. But sitting on a balcony and watching the sun go down while he sleeps all happy after a day in the sunshine doing new stuff ... absolute bliss.