To go on holiday without DS?

[GumboDrop]

DS is 14 and insists he doesn't want to go on holidays. Took DC abroad in the summer and he did his best to be miserable all week. Other DC want holidays. DS could stay with his dad as we are divorced but it feels very wrong to have major holidays without DS there. I think he might resent me later in life if we go without him.

It is an awkward age for family holidays - they’re at that age when they find being seen in public with parents and younger siblings excruciatingly embarrassing, but they’re too young to do much on their own.

Could he take a friend? Are there any cousins he gets along with? Could you go somewhere where there’s stuff he can do without you some of the time?

I want him to come because it's a family holiday and he's part of the family. I go away without the DC too and with just one of them occasionally. He gets on fine with his twin sister and step dad. Last holiday was designed to suit him and he was still a miserable sod.

Where are you going?

I've had the same experience as ice-cream above - DSD decided when she was 14/15 that she didn't like family holidays and wanted to stay with her mum and hang out with her friends instead (she also stayed with us one time to avoid going on holiday with her mum) We took the younger kids and had a great time. The following year she decided to come with us again, and has done every year since (she's now 22) It's a phase, and as long as he knows he's welcome to come I think it's ok not to force them to come

Yeah I would leave him. Save money and have a nice time!

Is he involved in choosing where you go on holiday?

Yes he's involved in choosing but has no interest. Only sibling is his twin.

I would make him go and start to limit the Xbox right now. He needs to know that his position isn't reasonable. We all know teenagers can sometimes behave like arses, but it doesn't mean they should get away with it. If he then ruined the family holiday , he wouldn't see the Xbox again for a long time.

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss it had absolute nothing to do with my step mother. She is actually lovely and we get on very well. Probably better than I do with my mother.