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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to feel just a liiiiiiitle bit smug?

258 replies

PyongyangKipperbang · 15/08/2021 18:55

We have holidayed in the UK for ages. Odd one in France but generally North Wales or the South Coast.

Go to the beach today and get sneery looks from certain groups, who were also being similarly sneery to others who were like us. Our crime? We came with a full beach set up. Pop up tent (most important!) picnic, towels, more towels, waterproof jackets and a few blankets. Yes it took some carrying (about the only thing I have found I hate about single parenting is that its all on me to carry it all!) but when the heavens opened, we went into our tent and waited it out, then when the shower had passed, out we came again. Whereas the "One bag with swim suits and a towel" mob were all in a mass panic and trying to find some shelter.

Holidays in the UK require more prep than getting your bikini on and popping to the pool! I rather suspect that there will be a lot more pop up tents on the beach tomorrow than the 4 I saw today!

Oh and yes....the seagulls will take your food out of your hands, thats why there are signs EVERYWHERE saying that its advisable not to each out in the open as the seagulls are aggressive. I saw a father read one sign, say it was probably an exagerration and then have to comfort his terrified child who had his sandwich nicked.

So yes, I do feel a tiny bit smug.

OP posts:
guffaux · 15/08/2021 19:42

there's maybe a few of your co-beachgoers responding on this thread

we often go to an NT outdoor carol service- the first year we got there in time to get a seat (rather than stand with the chattering hoards at the back where we couldnt hear the service and couldnt join in) we were behind a small family- dad had a magic rucksack and produced hot chocolate, snacks and little battery lanterns for the kids, a christmas book, and they had seat pads to sit on and rugs to wrap over them- they were snug and entertained during the long lead up to the service beginning- oh how i wanted to be adopted by him! ( i think i was about 45 when we first went!)

we've emulated him ever since- flask, seat pads and a rug- i'm yet to be presented with snacks and a christmas book by my dp lol

CoddledAsAMommet · 15/08/2021 19:44

Well, I can out-smug you, as if it rains on the beach I cross the road, pop in to my nice warm home, use the loo and make a cup of tea to carry back over when the shower has passed.

But no, I really haven't seen competitive 'I've got less than you' behaviour.

And I've got a pulley trolley, too.

frumpety · 15/08/2021 19:44

Last year during a brief rain shower on the beach, I watched a Mother insist her children get out of the wet sea and take shelter in their nice dry beach tent, when the rain passed after 5 minutes, the children went back into the still very wet sea.

Crunchymum · 15/08/2021 19:45

Every other family on the beach had one today (yes one of these families were us Shock)

HelplessProcrastinator · 15/08/2021 19:46

I felt smug as smug can be getting my walking boots off and cossie on after a lovely coastal path walk yesterday. Costumes and one towel between us. Lovely swim on a beach that is down steep steps so no ugly tents and wind breaks. Then fish and chips with a pint by the harbour. Each to their own.

JesusInTheCabbageVan · 15/08/2021 19:46

If people on MN aren't allowed to be smug any more, the whole site might have to close down...

godmum56 · 15/08/2021 19:49

there was a sneery thread on here a few days ago about the sensible folk who prepped for their beach day

Kanaloa · 15/08/2021 19:50

Were you being melodramatic about it? I live near the beach and when it was sunny last month saw a dad setting up like he was getting ready to start a siege there. And he was bellowing everything as if he needed the whole beach to hear ‘get the windbreak up! Grab the tent! Where’s the cooler, all the hydration equipment is in the cooler! Fetch those cushions out and form a base for the tent.’

I felt like going over and telling him to chill out. By the time he’d set up his small village we had built sandcastles, paddles, played football, had a drink and sandwiches, and were ready for heading home.

Kanaloa · 15/08/2021 19:51

Although I do bring the right stuff for the beach. Just quietly. Never noticed anyone sneering though.

phishy · 15/08/2021 19:53

I go to the beach a lot and it’s always a mix of families with full paraphernalia (tent, parasol, chairs, towels), couples with just portable chairs, teens with just their towels, 20 somethings with their volleyball net etc.

Nobody judges each other that I can see, we all go the beach for our own reasons.

You may feel smug but don’t pretend it’s a result of other people. You do you.

QueenBee52 · 15/08/2021 19:53

I live yards from the beach, and I have a my own pool, so neither affects me ...

you could send me more rain though.... Grin

DontDrinkDontSmokeWhatDoIDo · 15/08/2021 19:54

@godmum56

Yep, you're right.

There was indeed a long thread on here very recently, sneering at people just like the OP.

QueenBee52 · 15/08/2021 19:54

@Kanaloa

Were you being melodramatic about it? I live near the beach and when it was sunny last month saw a dad setting up like he was getting ready to start a siege there. And he was bellowing everything as if he needed the whole beach to hear ‘get the windbreak up! Grab the tent! Where’s the cooler, all the hydration equipment is in the cooler! Fetch those cushions out and form a base for the tent.’

I felt like going over and telling him to chill out. By the time he’d set up his small village we had built sandcastles, paddles, played football, had a drink and sandwiches, and were ready for heading home.

hahaaa love it lol he put real effort in lol
QueenBee52 · 15/08/2021 19:55

@godmum56

there was a sneery thread on here a few days ago about the sensible folk who prepped for their beach day
there was indeed... people can't win.. Flowers
MsTSwift · 15/08/2021 19:56

We are one towel only family on the English beach but super smug as had rented a gorgeous apartment 5 mins walk away so when it rained we simply decamped to our sea view sitting room rather than crouching in a tiny tent 😁

Hesma · 15/08/2021 19:58

Sounds to me like you need to get a life 🤦‍♀️🤣

Puzzledandpissedoff · 15/08/2021 19:59

It wouldn't worry me, but just don't do it when you go to France; I swear that there, anything more than a towel to pose on, a bottle of Evian and a huge pair of sunnies is de trop Wink

TwooThirty · 15/08/2021 19:59

Doing a big beach day as a single parent is something to be proud of (without judging others).

Saying that, I love a bit of people watching on the beach.

One of the best oddest things I ever saw someone bring to the beach was a whole large watermelon. Not so wonderfully weird by itself but the fact they took it with them into the sea for a little swim before cutting and eating it was what had me enthralled.

AndTheReasonIsYou · 15/08/2021 20:00

I live on the coast in the north of Scotland.

No tents here. We’re far harder than that Wink

NotQuiteUsual · 15/08/2021 20:01

The sneers you noticed, was it because you were prepared? Or was it because you'd shown yourself to be a tourist? with UK breaks so much more popular, there's been a definite shift in locals attitudes towards them round here at least. I have an accent and have received many an eye roll or dirty look when I'm at local attractions, which I certainly didn't get in the winter months.

picklemewalnuts · 15/08/2021 20:03

The tents block visibility on the beach. Make it harder to see your children, or the water. Is there room to set up so it doesn't block everyone else's enjoyment.

Notimeforaname · 15/08/2021 20:05

OP cant come to the phone right now. She's busy packing up and starting the long pilgrimage home Grin

OverByYer · 15/08/2021 20:06

Bully for you OP

whiteroseredrose · 15/08/2021 20:09

We used to go to Cornwall annually and were a bit sneery to those who marked out their Empire with lots of windbreaks, especially when it was multiple families building a mini estate.

However the mini tents were an essential.

WhatAShilohPitt · 15/08/2021 20:21

Are you sure they were sneery looks? Not squinting in the sun / just their normal resting bitchy faces? I have one of those so I look pissed off without meaning to. Seems very odd for anyone to sneer at a complete stranger for bringing suitable beach things to a beach. I wouldn’t even notice what the people around me had packed!