Son's passport expiring - family hols in ruins

[blueshoes]

Dh and I were looking forward to our family holiday in Crete, Greece for the October half term. We watched the covid-19/PCR situation closely not realising that my 15 year old son's passport has less than 3 months. Just found out today. This is our first foreign holiday since covid struck.

The government website says that for entry to Greece, your passport must be valid for at least 3 months after the day you plan to leave Greece, or any other Schengen country.

We leave on 30 October and my son's passport expires just short of 3 months on 22 January 2022. It is too late to renew his passport as we are leaving in less than a week.

Ds cannot come with us, can he? We f_ked up.

Anybody recently travelled to Greece with Ryanair with less than 3 months left on their passport? Is it a bad idea to turn up and chance it or bite the bullet now and plan on the basis ds cannot go.

You can get an appointment at a local (ish) passport centre within days. It costs more but can be done within a week. Granddaughter did it last week.

@GreenFingersWouldBeHandy

Sorry OP, you're complaining about people being harsh but this is entirely down to you and DH not sorting it out.

Plenty of people have suggested paying for an emergency passport that is you option. Or as you suggested, leaving your son at home.

Why not read OP's posts before beating her up like this? She's made it perfectly clear she's prepared to pay, the problem is that she's been told it won't be ready in time.

😂 at 'he cannot come with us' as if your first thought is leave your child behind rather than postpone the trip for everyone. At 15 he isn't responsible for renewing his passport; you are and you fucked up so it isn't fair to leave him behind.

I’ve been surprised by the harsh comments towards the OP (I normally see a lot of MN comments saying teenagers prefer not to holiday with their parents) so I ran this thread by my own 15yr old ds who said exactly what I expected - that he loves family holidays but would be perfectly happy to have a week with his friends in the event of a genuine mistake and wouldn’t expect us to miss out. I don’t think there’s any reason to think the OP’s son would hide his true feelings?

I should say though that my son would have a reasonable expectation of another family holiday in the near future - we do try to go away twice a year - so if this is a one off special unlikely to be repeated holiday then I think that is a bit different.

Not sure if it makes you feel better about it but I’d be happy to host one of my child’s friends (similar age etc) in this situation, I’d probably want to talk it over for logistics etc but I don’t think it would be a major imposition……..not sure what i would do if it were my child, probably try to move heaven and earth to get a passport and also try to risk it at the airport on the day tbh but who knows maybe I’d do the same as you. Anyway I hope you get a passport and have a lovely holiday.

I’ve been surprised by the harsh comments towards the OP (I normally see a lot of MN comments saying teenagers prefer not to holiday with their parents) so I ran this thread by my own 15yr old ds who said exactly what I expected - that he loves family holidays but would be perfectly happy to have a week with his friends in the event of a genuine mistake and wouldn’t expect us to miss out…..

Well obviously a 15 year old is going to want to stay with his mates, that’s hardly shocking is it.

What most people find amusing/astonishing is that from the very start of the thread the posters plan was just to leave her son behind

The shock on the forum is not about what her son wants, but about what she wants…which is a nice child-free holiday which she’s now getting!

Like I said, this ‘innocent mistake’ has worked out well for her

@MalagaNights

Ah now I do think YABU.

If you're leaving him behind I'd at least give him some leeway to hang out at home without any parents. That would be half the fun.

I'd limit it to a small group of maybe 5 close mates or so And let them enjoy a house to themselves for a bit.

The problem is when one of the five close friends mentions it to another friend, who in turn mentions it to another. Then loads of kids turn up which is very hard for anyone to deal with let alone a 15 year old. You need to completely trust the friends not just the son/daughter.

This happened to several people I knew growing up.

In one instance, the uninvited kids started throwing bottles at the house and a neighbour called the police which was then held against the hosts by the univited kids. The upshot was he was advised to the leave his school due to the resulting threats. An extreme example, but easier to have a no friends policy!

Basically, what clmes accross loud and clear is OP is largely indifferent to her DS. Can't be bothered to try and sort a passport, would rather leave him alone at home

@Lightswitch123

Oh give us a break.

OP is TRYING to get a bloody passport.

She made a fuck up, it wasn't because she wasn't ARSED or BOTHERED.

She's going to CONTACT all the parents.

God alive, the embellishments and yes @Warmduscher, the squealing.

The shock on the forum is not about what her son wants, but about what she wants…which is a nice child-free holiday which she’s now getting!

Give us a break.

What the OP wants is a bloody passport.

OP, when I was 16 I got swine flu and my family went skiing. An aunt checked on me everyday, I don’t feel abandoned or any such other thing by my family. I’m sure your son will be fine.

If I were in your situation, I'd arrange for one parent to stay behind with your DS and the other parent to go with DD.

A mature 15 year old is still a 15 year old, and having access to a parent is still important. The NSPCC and government guidance says that a child under 16 should not be left alone overnight. While you could argue that your son's friends' parents will be there, do you actually know and trust these people? Can you trust that they'll manage any emergency appropriately? What if your son falls out with someone or has a bad experience? Usually, when there's a sleepover, there's always the reassurance of an emergency phonecall meaning that a parent can come and help. If you're out of the country, your DS can't do that if something goes wrong. And if something were to go wrong, you could be in a tricky situation legally, given the guidance and that it's illegal to leave a child alone if it places them at risk (which it could be argued is happening if you're leaving him in a different country from you, staying over with people you don't know).

Give us a break. What the OP wants is a bloody passport.

If you say so

Her first response to the situation was, “He’s not going to be able to come with us, is he?”

I guess I was expecting her to say something more along the lines of, “We are going to miss out on our family holiday aren’t we?”

But no

I’m not knocking her….me and DH go away twice a year without our children as we think it’s important to have child free time together, but the way this has unfolded in OP’s favour has just made me smile

but she's NOT trying though-

They have appointments for same day passports on the website , I just looked .

And with just 5 days go go why hasn't she ^^already spoken to the parents , why is she leaving it to her son or still talking about how she's 'going' to do it.

She's posted multiple times on here today trying to justify her decision to leave him alone when clearly she already made up her mind before her OP .

If she hadn't already decided, she would have spent her time not on mumsnet, but instead booking a passport appointment, calling the airline / the hotel etc... and failing all that calling parents and sorting out a solid plan B for her son

Clearly she decided she's going on holiday come hell or high water, she should just own up to it

If she hadn't already decided, she would have spent her time not on mumsnet, but instead booking a passport appointment, calling the airline / the hotel etc... and failing all that calling parents and sorting out a solid plan B for her son

Err do you know what OP has been doing all day? Seriously?

@sunglassesonthetable
Op has said that calling the airline etc are DHs jobs for tomorrow

Err do you know what OP has been doing all day? Seriously?

Packing?
Celebrating?

It's a personal choice.

Could you do a short holiday 3-4 days and come back early.

I'm not sure I'd enjoy my holiday knowing DS (15) was sleeping at various friends houses, no matter how he said it was ok. As I know he'd miss home after a few days but he loves him home comforts.

I definatley couldn't leave his elder sister at 15 as she would turn the house into party central and we would have no house to return to.

good luck what you decide.

I think DS just needs to see you really trying to get the passport with emergency appointments and so on, if it's not possible then he's happy to stay with friends, that's all fine.

If he doesn't go with you then you can claim back the airport tax on his plane ticket, EVEN if they are non-refundable, as if he doesn't go then Ryanair don't pay the tax so they owe it back to you.

Don't worry about upsetting the cats and pigeons in the applecart.

I just renewed mine, normal service and it took 5 weeks. You can do express if you go in person. Your son did not *uck up so you need to fix it for him.

I'm one of the now 11%. You and your family seem a pragmatic bunch who have discussed options. You're trying to get the passport, but your son has got an alternative that he's chosen and is happy with if it doesn't come in time. Plus if you can't get his passport renewed he gets to choose the destination of the next family holiday. Which, as you say, may well be the last as your children grow up and leave home.

I doubt he's going to end up in therapy when he's 40 because of this.

Op has said that calling the airline etc are DHs jobs for tomorrow

And? You don't like the way they divvy up stuff? You just want OP to be doing it?

@sunglassesonthetable

Basically, what clmes accross loud and clear is OP is largely indifferent to her DS. Can't be bothered to try and sort a passport, would rather leave him alone at home

@Lightswitch123

Oh give us a break.

OP is TRYING to get a bloody passport.

She made a fuck up, it wasn't because she wasn't ARSED or BOTHERED.

She's going to CONTACT all the parents.

God alive, the embellishments and yes @Warmduscher, the squealing.

How do you know it wasn’t because she couldn’t be bothered?

And there’s no need to shout.

And with just 5 days go go why hasn't she ^^already spoken to the parents , why is she leaving it to her son or still talking about how she's 'going' to do it.

She clearly said, they are having other attempts tomorrow to get the passport. If unsuccessful, she will THEN contact the parents of friends who have offered.

But no she's not in froth which clearly would be more acceptable to some.