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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Is it strange we holiday at my in laws house

74 replies

Theladylady · 07/04/2019 22:12

We are currently at our in laws house having a holiday while they are away

They are very weak have a 7 bed room house my mil has kindly done a marks and Spencer’s shop we could never afford this we have use of there very nice car

But friends think it’s strange because they live in the same country

OP posts:
DarklyDreamingDexter · 07/04/2019 23:00

It sounds great, unless they live in a really awful area that no one would want to visit by choice! If they are wealthy (as opposed to weak!) I'm assuming that's probably not the case. Enjoy your holiday.

DontDribbleOnTheCarpet · 07/04/2019 23:05

It sounds ideal- you get a break, your in-laws get their house looked after and also get to give you a treat. If they are happy and you are happy then I don't see a problem.

Bringbackthestripes · 07/04/2019 23:05

We holiday in this country all the time so it’s not odd that it’s the same country. Do they live where there are nice things for you to do? Lovely of them to do a posh food shop.......now if they were to throw in the hire of someone to cook it all and do the dishes too it would be bliss!
Enjoy.

AwakeNow · 07/04/2019 23:06

Nothing wrong with that. You are lucky, enjoy&

AwakeNow · 07/04/2019 23:06

*enjoy!

JaneEyre07 · 07/04/2019 23:08

Sounds perfect OP. A break away from home, nice food and a nice house.

quizqueen · 07/04/2019 23:12

What's wrong with them getting food in for you. It's a nice thought. You are happy to use their electricity, tv licence etc. for free, what's the difference.

BernardsarenotalwaysSaints · 07/04/2019 23:17

No!

When dc1 was born we were really hard up (think everything covered but very little, if any, left), our ‘holidays’ that year were 10 miles down the road in Mils house (in the town we grew up in), as a thank you for looking after the dogs & house she used to get us a shop in & buy us 2 or 3 dvds. They may not have been a traditional ‘holiday’ but it was a change of scenery.

Hollyhobbi · 07/04/2019 23:21

We used to stay with grandparents in Donegal and our grandmother in Cork. We had great fun with cousins in Donegal cause my grandparents had a dairy farm so you could help with milking the cows and play with the new kittens in the barn. They lived near the sea too and one of my uncles had a small boat and we got to go out on it as well. And I remember the sea water as always being warm cause of the North Atlantic drift. In Cork our granny lived in the city so we got to experience the big shopping centre etc. We lived on the outskirts of a small town so it meant we had different experiences and met our relatives on our holidays in the same country.

Jaxhog · 07/04/2019 23:21

Sounds lovely! (Your friends are just jealous) Your inlaws benefit too - you're effectively house sitting for them.

Nothing wrong with holidaying in your own country. We've just done it!

FlutterShite · 07/04/2019 23:27

Haha, no, your friends who think it's strange to have a holiday in the same country are the weird ones. Bless them and their unworldly little outlook!

LifeImplosionImminent · 07/04/2019 23:27

Sounds great - and a mutually beneficial situation, they have their house looked after by people they trust while they are away and you get to enjoy their lovely big pad and fancy car. Lots of people holiday in the same country - I think it's called a staycation or something like that.

Redshoeblueshoe · 07/04/2019 23:32

Holly I want to stay at your GMs house Grin

StrawberrySquash · 07/04/2019 23:32

Alan Clark apparently once said with much disapproval that Michael Hesseltine was 'the sort of person who had to buy his own furniture' . Meaning one should inherit it. How terribly vulgar of your acquaintances.
Joking aside, it sounds like a perfectly sensible holiday to me.

Redshoeblueshoe · 07/04/2019 23:35

Strawberry Grin

llangennith · 07/04/2019 23:57

Assume you mean they're very wealthy. Enjoy your stay.

ginghamstarfish · 07/04/2019 23:59

We usually holiday at my best friends house in the Lake District, cat sitting while they're away. It's fab, lovely village, pub across the road, beach down the lane, mountain views and home comforts ( including two cuddly cats). What's not to like?

Hollyhobbi · 08/04/2019 00:10

The beach we'd go to in Donegal is not that well known and there are no shops or amusements or anything like that near it. We used to bring a picnic and our grandad would buy us all huge 99's at a small shop about halfway home. They were the best icecreams ever! There'd be 8 or 9 of us squished into my dad's car. You wouldn't get away with that now! We sometimes used to have birthday picnics as well because one of my sisters and one of my first cousins birthdays are a few days apart. We'd head up to the foot of the mountains and have a great time playing. There would have been up to 20 or 22 or so of us including cousins over from England for the summer holidays. And the sun was always shining in any photos I have!

Redshoeblueshoe · 08/04/2019 00:25

Holly that so reminds me of my holidays in Ireland. Once we had my Dps, me, my DB, my DSis, and my other DB with his GF. In one car ! One day we went out and DB and his GF weren't with us, so we picked up a hitch hicker with his guitar. The hitch hicker was shocked, but happily squeezed in with the rest of us Grin

Linnet · 08/04/2019 00:33

Doesn’t seem weird to me. My in-laws live in central London and we used to go there ever year on holiday.

NewSchoolNewName · 08/04/2019 00:45

Sounds fine to me. I’d only think it odd if you lived 5 minutes down the road.

Loads of people I know (including me) holiday at parents / in-laws houses. Most of my childhood holidays were at my grandparents house. You get to stay in another part of the country cheaply, most parts of the country will have interesting things or places for visitors to see.
We normally time it so the DC get to spend time with grandparents they don’t see often because of the distance between our homes. And even if your in laws aren’t there, they’re presumably happy with you house sitting for them.

strathmore · 08/04/2019 05:54

We usually go abroad for new year and my DB (who lives 200 miles away but was originally local and his DW family are local) and his family/friends use our house with 14 beds for a party.

Seems a great idea to me.

MaybeitsMaybelline · 08/04/2019 06:29

And why not? My DP live on the next street so I don’t think I’d bother 😂

ConstanzaAndSalieri · 08/04/2019 06:33

Many of my childhood holidays were what we would now call house sitting. There wasn’t much cash and we got to see different bits of the country.

stucknoue · 08/04/2019 06:35

We have often stayed at my parents near the beach - lots of space, full board, babysitting and loves dogs, what's not to like!