Just arrived on holiday with sisters kids

[EllyRoff]

They’re driving me insane already. I’ve never known kids so messy. Within 5 minutes of being here a full glass of juice was spilt over the sofa. They wander around with their dinner plates gravy spilling everywhere, potatoes falling onto the floor and getting trod on, squished into the carpet - the place looked like a disaster zone by the first evening.
yesterday morning they had cocopops for breakfast, one whole bowl got knocked off the table onto the floor, chocolate milk everywhere. Sister completely unbothered by it, just scrubbed it with her foot. One of them then got a yogurt out, ripped the lid off - yogurt splattered up their clothes. Lid chucked on floor (naturally landing face down on carpet). She then spun around resulting in yogurt going flying everywhere, all over the sofa and up the glass of the patio doors.

We went to a nature park, everything was pristine, Nephew got a milkshake, it ended up all over the table, all over his hands and face and then when he went to put the carton in the bin he somehow managed to get milkshake all down the front of the bin.

its driving me insane and I have another week of this. I’ve banned them from my bedroom after they trod mud all over my white duvet.

sister thinks I’m being uptight so there is already tension but I’m starting to feel myself feeling really frustrated with the kids. There is no respect for anything.

I know you don't have to be a parent, but it changes everything (!) from a understanding what your sister might be going through perspective. My sisters son reached his terrible twos over a year before mine did and I thought "man they must have gone wrong somewhere", that one came back to bite me in the butt 🤣 Also it's up to you if you want to vehemently decline a invitation of a very insistent friend thank you for letting me know what you'd have done..... We didn't, we all had a great time, but she admitted it was much harder than she'd expected. I doubt she posted about it in this group, she just spoke to us 🤯 It's extremely weird to me, that someone would slag off their sister on a public forum seemingly before having spoken to her, but people just seem to have forgotten how to speak to one another and would rather tell strangers on the Internet how much better they are, how they would NEVER, etc. 👀

This! I get she’s on holiday too but is she always this slovenly?!

Your SIL is creating acceptance by not getting them to clean up messes and just ignoring them. If you knock gravy on the floor then you help clean it up. I would expect that at 4. I wouldn't let a child that young open a yoghurt. They don't have the fine motor skills in place for it not to end badly.

I remember taking my children to my sisters years ago, I have 2 and my 2 sisters each have 2 children, I am not exaggerating but both my 2 sisters children were feral, like animals my 2 children would not leave my side as they were just not used to seeing other children act that way and my sisters were just acting like it was normal (bear in mind my children were younger by about a year or 2). I remember looking at my mum and her looking at me seeing the disappointment as I shook my head in disbelief, I said I'm taking my kids home and have never took to kids back, that would have been 10 years ago.

Its bewildering to me how some people raise their children, if my kids ever stepped out of line which I can honestly count on one hand just a look from me stopped any nonsense there and then and everyone who meets them says what lovely and respectful now young ladies they are and I'm very proud.

Never, ever holiday with your family.

'niblings' 🙄

And why should OP feel duty bound to help with this circus when it's of her sister's own making?

When I worked at an up market village in North Wales, we actually charged a customer to repaint a room after they checked out!

What behaviours were they doing you are describing as "feral" and how old were they at the time?

OP doesn't have to feel duty bound to do anything but wanting to help your sister out, even when it is "of their own making" is pretty common. What kind of phrasing is that?

Many of you are on here complaining about bad manners in children that they have plenty of time to grow out of meanwhile you're grown and horrible.

So it's now 'horrible' to suggest that parents should, y'know, parent? Just wow. 🙄

Except that's not what I said so unclench.

Wasn’t clenching. But if I mistook your meaning, perhaps you need to expand on why you’re calling fellow posters horrible?

I took my grandkids 1 and 2 to haven last summer and made them sit at a table when they were eating,there was still some mess but nothing major as we tidied up every morning before going to do activities throughout the day

Is there any chance the kids could have ADHD OP? I only ask because my kids are exactly like this and are both diagnosed ADHD.

I hate the word niblings it’s so eugh makes my teeth itch. I don’t get it. They are nieces and nephews they already have a name why was Niblings invented.

I hate the word niblings it’s so eugh makes my teeth itch. I don’t get it. They are nieces and nephews they already have a name why was Niblings invented.

It's an absolutely revolting word.

Agree. Sounds like a cross between naughty, whining and giblets

My three year old wipes up most of her own spills - especially if it was "on purpose" (pouring juice from one cup into another despite being told not to). If these kids are carrying plates around the place I'm sure they must be older than mine!

I think you are exaggerating, something a lot of people have missed. You wrote:

"one whole bowl got knocked off the table onto the floor, chocolate milk everywhere. Sister completely unbothered by it, just scrubbed it with her foot"

As a parent of three under ten who has seen a bowl of milk knocked on the floor, either your sister was wearing towels for socks or you're being a drama queen.

And how old are these children? Are they 3 and learning to do things on their own? They should be eating at a table, but it's age appropriate for them to be clumsy.

And why on earth do you care if the children spills milkshake on their clothes? How is that even your business? Are you doing their laundry? Do you think they're born knowing how to feed themselves?

Your mad because the kid got the garbage can dirty? It's a GARBAGE CAN.

Please don't have children. I can tell you don't have them already.3

Yuck.. that would drive me crazy, I beat myself up by thinking I’m over fastidious but this is ignorant and rude.