To be very worried about going on a joint family holiday?

[GiveMumABreak]

Us and two other families, 6 adults, 6 kids (different ages and personalities), sunny location, shared villa. We have spent a huge amount of money on this holiday (the costs have just kept rolling in!) please tell me IABU to be worried, that we are all going to get on and its all going to be great fun! Tell me your shared holiday stories.....

Scary organised friend might come in useful if the weather is bad. Just back from two weeks of rain
Seriously, if you have a control freak in the group just state your requirements/budget and leave them to it.

Our ds's were both 4. Their ds threw our belongings into the pool. He wouldn't sit at the table when our ds was made to. He broke things on purpose. By day 10 we used to get the bus somewhere for the day just to get away. I thought it would be a lovely holiday. We'd all been friends for years and got on really well. I was very wrong.

We have done it every other year with two families, have it down to an art now, although first time required some "ironing" out.

Here's what works for us:

1. Own cars - no negotiation on this, you need your own space as a family.

2. One member of each family goes on first and any subsequent major shopping expeditions. DH likes this as he gets to go with the other wives - they know now to put him in charge of alcohol and cheese, while they source the more day to day items !

3. Do a mixture of eating together, eating out - we have at least one child free night in the week and DS is very happy as playing with the other children.

4. Sometimes you have to do what suits you. DS is quite a fussy eater and the first year I tried to get him to eat what the other children were having resulting in total melt down. Now I make sure there is at least one item on the menu that he eats, even if its only plain pasta. Plus he has got a little less fussy and at least he goes to bed at bed time !

5. We never had any strict rotas, but I have got a bit snippy when I felt one of the DHs wasn't pulling his weight, so perhaps a rough plan on who does what might be better.

6. Get a big enough villa, you don't know what the other children sleep like. Do not suggest that your DC will be happy bunking in with someone elses, it will be a recipe for disaster.

7. See if you can get a catered meal at the property, we had this last year and it was fab. Not cheap at 50 euro a head per adult but loads of left overs and very relaxing for the first evening.

Enjoy it - there are loads of benefits !

ha i remember doing this as a child (going away with one or two other families) as far as i remember the adults just got hammered every night and all the kids just ran riot upstairs til we crashed

but can remember lots of little tiffs as well. between the kids AND the adults lol

It really is a great way to take a holiday. Kids all entertain themselves which is the main thing,

I would just recommend compromise, compromise, compromise. If all the families are digging their heels in about various issues it can become very fraught.

I loved this sort do holiday when the kids were small though; worked very well.

Like everybody has said, shared rotas for cleaning, cooking & general maintenance.
Shared food kitty for grocery shopping
Do separate & shared activities
Make sure you have chill out time away from each other so you dont get on each others nerves.

Just thinking about our group holiday last year. One of my best and most lasting memories ( and I recorded it so we have it for posterity) is the evening all the children decided to put on a magic show.

Obviously Paul Daniels needn't give up his job just yet, but it was so lovely to see them all working together, delighted to have an audience, whilst we cheered them on - suitably enthusiastic after a few glasses of wine.

We've had some lovely holidays with friends but we're all laid back, similar budgets, etc. However, holiday with BIL and his partner was the most hellish experience of my life as they were completely controlling and she was certifiable. Preferably I'd have separate accommodation from other families which I think increases chances of success. I'd also advise agreeing that people can do their own thing whenever they wish.

oh theoriginal thats just lovely :)

i remember doing a very similar thing as a child with the other kids we were on holiday with, except we put on a little play on the last night. :)

Thanks dirtyface - the memory of it is keeping me going as we are having some issues trying to agree upon a suitable venue for next years vacation

I think it could be amazing and really worth the effort/mild irritations. We've done it but only for long weekends. Bit different.

The uniform thing worries me a bit... Funny until you get there and realise she didn't mean it as a joke.

Good luck. Can we look forward to a post holiday update?

Oh, just remembered... we've had a rota in the past where there is a main cook for the whole day, breakfast, lunch and dinner, and they have a 'slave'. We were on holiday for 7 days and there happened to be 7 adults. Each adult was main cook for a day and slave on another day. The slave gets told what to do (chop veg, wash up etc). We are pretty laid back and it worked well for us. It also meant there were no slackers and everyone had to take some responsibility. Maybe we're all a bit controlling though.

On the day that you weren't main cook or slave, it was utter bliss. Just sit back and put your feet up!

I dont think itinery is worrying you can take it or leave it - but its there, better than not there, i think thats rather nice,

i cant tell you are arnt bu though as lets face it - hell is other people.