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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask what you would you in this in-law holiday situation of caravan sharing

434 replies

TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl · 15/04/2023 10:20

Have a family holiday to Dorset in July at a Haven-type place. We all booked it in September last year. Us (me DH 2 kids) SIL (her, BIL and their 8yo DS) have each booked a 3-bed caravan and FIL (him and StepMIL) have booked a 2 bed. SIL then invited MIL to stay in hers in their 3rd bedroom, for free. MIL is on her own, works minimum wage job and would never otherwise be able to afford a holiday herself, and has told me she is looking forward to having a bedroom to herself.

Our kids are 6&10 and we planned to use all 3 bedrooms in our caravan as we have a boy and a girl and they don’t always love sharing a room on holiday. 10yo DD is also now (fairly) wanting people to respect her privacy especially when she gets changed etc.

So to summarise: at the point of booking, our caravan is technically full, SIL’s caravan is full and FIL’s caravan has 1 spare room.

Except SIL has now invited our 11yo niece (their brother’s DD) and also her adult DD (22) and adult DD’s boyfriend on the holiday. She is the type of person who doesn’t EVER think things through. MIL posted on the family WhatsApp group asking where the new people are gonna stay.

Anyway, FIL has offered to have 11yo niece in his 2nd bedroom. So SIL asked if we can have her adult DD and boyfriend in ours. Otherwise they will have to stay in her caravan and poor MIL will be relegated to the pull out bed in the living room.

Im really annoyed at it all, because if I’m being honest I don’t want ANYONE in our caravan except the 4 of us. We technically have the space but I’ve only met 22yo’s boyfriend twice I’m not keen on having him stay in the same space as us. I also don’t want 11yo niece as she constantly picks on my kids, she’s really rough with them, always hitting them, shows them TikTok videos and does stupid annoying things.

But I feel bad for MIL that she will be relegated to the sofa. Also, no money is being offered for us hosting extra people and it wasn’t a cheap holiday either.

I want to be able to walk around in my short nightie, fart, talk about personal things with my DH that I don’t want other people to hear, and laze around like a sloth without worrying what other people think.

We already had a wobble over this bloody holiday when we booked it as SIL said to me “Your DD can stay in our caravan, (their) DS will want her there with him” and I had to say no sorry but our DD will be staying with us.

My DH has said he thinks we should say no, it’s our caravan and we booked it without the expectation of extra people. And that MIL needs to fight her own corner. But I think that’s gonna be SUPER awkward and unkind.

YANBU - Tell them to bugger off and enjoy your holiday
YABU - Share your caravan you horrible cow!

OP posts:
EveryWitchWaybutLoose · 19/04/2023 09:24

MIL gets bedroom in SIL's caravan and the DD and her boyfriend take the pull out.

This. Give the older woman a bit of privacy & dignity, FFS!

It's also pretty crap always being the single person on family holidays, as people seem to think that couples' privacy trumps the single person's. Let the 22 yo & her boyfriend camp nearby.

2Rebecca · 19/04/2023 14:00

They are SIL's extra guests and her problem to accommodate. Not sure why MIL was an afterthought if SIL wanted her to come. The other 3 should never have been invited. Not getting to gatecrash someone else's holiday because there isn't room for you shouldn't be that surprising. People not getting to stay in an overcrowded caravan shouldn't be that much of a disappointment. It sounds awful

Mamorau · 20/04/2023 21:30

Surely the simplest solution is 11 yr old niece has the pull out bed in SIL caravan and the 22yr old and her boyfriend have the spare room in the FIL caravan! MIL then still has her own room!

2Rebecca · 20/04/2023 22:49

Why would FIL want to share his caravan with a pair of shaggers? He has a right to a nice holiday too without younger relatives he maybe sees occasionally. Caravans are small and noise travels. Young adult niece and her boyfriend are old enough to arrange their own holiday not gatecrash someone else's

emptythelitterbox · 20/04/2023 23:03

I have to ask why so many subject themselves to this type of hell every year?

The accomodations are usually shit. There's always one or more annoying family member.

Why?

BadNomad · 20/04/2023 23:13

Maybe FIL and his wife are the shaggers.

2Rebecca · 21/04/2023 00:02

FIL and wife have arranged and paid for their own accommodation before SIZl started inviting undiscussed freeloaders

2Rebecca · 21/04/2023 00:03

SIL

Saddaughterinlawagain · 21/04/2023 00:26

MeMyBooksAndMyCats · 15/04/2023 10:23

Why can't mil have her own room and her adult dd and boyfriend sleep on the sofa all in SILs caravan?

This ☝️

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