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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to hate Easter?

145 replies

Abeona · 01/04/2024 20:32

My DP and I have been together for donkey's years but we still haven't worked out how to enjoy the Easter holiday. We're self-employed so can take what holidays we want, don't have children and we've been parent-free for more than a decade. We live in a lovely rural area that everyone flocks to at this time of year, as a result of which our roads are badly congested, there's nowhere to park in our pretty small town, the cafes and restaurants are full and doing anything much becomes a major hassle.

Our families live 200+ miles away and a journey that might ordinarily take four hours can take up to seven or eight, crawling along in traffic in the rain, so we don't visit them and they don't come to visit us. On a couple of occasions we've been away on holiday for Easter — once to Florence, once to Tenerife. On each occasion the airports were packed, we suffered long delays, the weather wasn't great and the destinations were packed too. We kicked ourselves for paying a premium price to go somewhere that was too crowded to be enjoyable. We've had friends to stay, but increasingly people prefer to travel when things are quieter. So since 2018 we've decided to stay at home and do a bit of gardening and DIY.

Every year my DP agrees that this is the best solution — and every year by the Monday Bank Holiday we've had a huge row, because everyone we know is out and about and having a good time in Majorca or the Maldives, or has braved the traffic and paid a fortune to go somewhere interesting and FOMO kicks in and we feel we've wasted Easter at home doing nothing because it's barely stopped raining.

Has anyone else had this experience? Have you found a solution?

OP posts:
GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 01/04/2024 20:33

Just do what makes you happy. I get you haven’t figured out what that is but no one else can tell you. Those who are away obviously think the airports etc are worth it!

JMSA · 01/04/2024 20:34

No offence, but you sound a bit miserable.

Abeona · 01/04/2024 20:34

We haven't figured out what would make us happy, which is why I'm asking if others have had similar experiences...

OP posts:
JMSA · 01/04/2024 20:35

I would love to go on holiday right now, instead of being stuck at home with arguing teens Grin

Malarandras · 01/04/2024 20:37

I don’t have this problem no. Easter Sunday is a busy day cooking for family for me so Easter Monday is the gym in the morning followed by a day of chilling out. Figuring out what makes you happy shouldn’t be so hard OP..

ShoNuff · 01/04/2024 20:37

You’re putting a lot of pressure on yourselves to enjoy one weekend a year.

Personally, I like to take it really easy at Easter. Potter, nap, make nice food, catch up on boxsets or a good book, go for a long walk.

You don’t have kids or dependents, so you can go away any time can’t you?

Abeona · 01/04/2024 20:38

JMSA · 01/04/2024 20:34

No offence, but you sound a bit miserable.

None taken. I'm currently a bit miserable because we've just had our annual Easter row, but generally I'm not at all miserable. Easter seems to bring misery with it, judging from what I'm reading about people taking 14 hours to get home from Wales to the SE today after a whole spate of accidents.

OP posts:
LadyTiredWinterBottom2 · 01/04/2024 20:39

So you're not happy at home visiting family or going abroad.

Not sure what responses you're expecting tbh

TheIceQween · 01/04/2024 20:39

I hate pretty much all holidays and the children it brings… my door today 😫

JMSA · 01/04/2024 20:39

I don't have a partner, but can imagine that it would be really nice to cosy up and get our teeth stuck into a good box set. BBC iplayer has some really good stuff. I'd recommend KIN or Drop Out.

Etherealcelestialbeing · 01/04/2024 20:40

Why do you feel the need for it to be anything more than just an extended weekend? Are you able to take leave/holidays through the rest of the year?

craigth162 · 01/04/2024 20:40

Why dont you ignore it being easter, work as normal and have normal weekend etc. Then travel or do something else in 3 weeks time

Itsacruelsummer · 01/04/2024 20:41

I mean this is a tad overdramatic about a bank holiday. Just go away off peak! Spending the weekend pottering around the garden sounds blissful to me.

LadyTiredWinterBottom2 · 01/04/2024 20:41

If you don't have children travel either side funny leave it last minute

ilovesooty · 01/04/2024 20:41

Well you went away and didn't like it but now have FOMO because you didn't go away. You'll have to decide what you want to do with the time. If you're self employed and your time is flexible bank holidays are pretty meaningless really.

TeenLifeMum · 01/04/2024 20:41

Just plan to hang at home and bimble about.

DappledThings · 01/04/2024 20:42

Etherealcelestialbeing · 01/04/2024 20:40

Why do you feel the need for it to be anything more than just an extended weekend? Are you able to take leave/holidays through the rest of the year?

This. Do you usually struggle to enjoy a normal weekend? This us just thar but a bit longer. Why do you feel it needs to be different to a normal weekend if you don't want it to be?

Geebray · 01/04/2024 20:42

I long for a rainy Easter, so I can eat roast lamb, loads of chocolate, and curl up on the sofa to watch films.

HeddaGarbled · 01/04/2024 20:42

I think this must be confirmation bias because I know no-one who has gone to Majorca or the Maldives.

Next door had family round for Sunday lunch. Everyone else just enjoyed a few days off work.

I too live in a popular tourist area. The weather’s not been great here which has meant it hasn’t been too busy, but when it is busy, I deliberately don’t go out in the car and go for a long walk instead. And have some lie-ins. And read a lot. Proper re-charging.

iLovee · 01/04/2024 20:43

craigth162 · 01/04/2024 20:40

Why dont you ignore it being easter, work as normal and have normal weekend etc. Then travel or do something else in 3 weeks time

Exactly what I was thinking too!

NuffSaidSam · 01/04/2024 20:43

Just work as normal and gift yourselves a long weekend at some other point in the year.

The reason everything is busy is because most people don't get to choose their holiday and are making the most of the bank holidays. Surely one of the benefits of being self employed is you don't need to take bank holidays like everyone else?

Rollinroller · 01/04/2024 20:44

If I didn’t have kids, I would just see it as a long weekend to catch up on stuff at home, maybe go out for a lunch / extra gym visit or longer dog walk or something. I wouldn’t feel any need to put pressure on myself to do something. The only reason we used to holiday at Easter when my DCs were small was that it was slightly cheaper than summer and the extra bank holidays minimised my leave, which I needed to cover all holidays! Now my kids are teens and I wfh I struggle to use all my allowance. I wouldn’t look to Easter to be my time to go away!

JMSA · 01/04/2024 20:44

Geebray · 01/04/2024 20:42

I long for a rainy Easter, so I can eat roast lamb, loads of chocolate, and curl up on the sofa to watch films.

Perfect! Would swap the lamb for a different meat, but that's me being picky Grin

Wheelerdeeler · 01/04/2024 20:45

It's 1 extra day? We make an effort to cook a nice dinner Easter Sunday but that's all & we have kids. I didn't even get dressed today. Totally enjoying the extra day.

pinkspeakers · 01/04/2024 20:45

YABU to hate Easter. We basically just treated it as a normal weekend. I worked Friday and Monday, out of choice. I take my holidays when I choose to, rather than when there is a bank holiday (I took last Monday off as we had a couple of nights in Paris). I don't hate Easter. I am entirely indifferent to it!

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