To think you should eat outside in summer

[Sneezeseverytimeheeatsabounty]

We live abroad and are on holidays this month.
Dh tends to do a bbq most days for lunch.
Each time he wants to eat inside as thinks there’s too many flies outside (there aren’t) or some other excuse. Dd follows him and they end up sat indoors eating lunch watching tv on a lovely summers day.
I end up sat outside eating lunch on my own
We have a nice seating area by the garden and pool with large parasol for shade
We have all autumn/winter where we’ll have to be sat inside eating

Aibu to want to sit and eat lunch outside as a family on our summer holidays?

I hate eating outdoors. It hot and uncomfortable.

Yes it would, go inside and eat with them!

Why 'should' they eat outside? There's no right or wrong here, but you're insinuating there is.

What if it’s warm and comfortable?

I live in sw france and have had family here for the last 12 days . One way of keeping sane was to herd everyone out for breakfast, lunch and dinner (30 meals!). It kept my house a little cleaner than it would have been, the 3 year old could wander around without stress, and the meals were far more relaxed.

Yes there were a few wasps, but we made traps for them and had a few swatters and it was irritating forgetting the salt etc etc but it saved my sanity (the family was my husband's).

I know it is a different situation than yours, and in fact when we don't have guests, it can be too much of a faff, but you could try negotiating- and build some wasp/fly traps.

Well no, me neither sometimes and I do what you say the majority of the year indoors, but since we’re all on holiday and have a great opportunity to enjoy summer, why wouldn’t you?
It seems to be such a British thing, so many other countries eat outside on a regular basis and don’t complain about wasps & flies

all the gardens are full of families Bbq-ing, chatting sat around together

There's nothing appealing about this.
Insects, fumes from multiple barbecues and the noise of loads of people blabbering on.

I’m with your husband…not because I dislike eating outside but where we live, horseflies are active from June onwards till Sept…they love me and when bitten, I react severely often ending up with cellulitis and needing antibiotics!! Wish we’d known about the horseflies before we bought this house but I figured, it’s only a few months of the year and the rest of the year, I’m happy as its a beautiful house in the middle of nowhere surrounded by woods and paddocks etc.

I can just about manage a coffee outside but I wouldn't like eating outside. Not even on holiday it's too cold. But I live in the UK

i don’t get this need what when it’s nice outside everyone needs to be outside

So why dont you eat inside with them?

My mum makes me when I’m home.

I can’t stand it. Hot, insects everywhere, crap gets in the food. HATE IT. I’ll eat indoors and have a lovely drink to see the beach, sunset, whatever.

Oh, so now it's a British issue? I wonder why all the pubs that have beer gardens and restaurants with outside space are always rammed at the first hint of sunshine?

Are you on a wind up, OP?

I agree with you OP! I would find it a bit of a turn off actually. It just seems a bit, I dunno, uptight and unfun to be so opposed to eating outside. I’m genuinely shocked by all the people on here who don’t do it. What do they do all summer? Do they ever have picnics? Have a meal on a restaurant terrace? Attend a BBQ? Feel the sheer joy of eating a punnet of strawberries under a tree? Have a beer on their front step? Do they all live in the Hebrides? I’m usually pretty good at understanding that everyone lives differently but this has shocked me!

you do you.

I also live abroad (which many pps seem to have missed) I only eat inside at work or in the Winter when it's cold. We dont really have many wasps etc like in the UK, so I am always outside eating 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

@greengreyblue Ah now that's different. Eating outdoors in a restaurant or pub is lovely. I'm not setting the table / bringing the food / cleaning up. They're also usually well set up with parasols

DS hates eating outside after he was stung by a bee (slightly paranoid about them now but getting better). DH isn't keen as he took a bite of a sandwich on a picnic just as a wasp landed on it once (only good thing was he was encouraged to have an ice cream by the first aid person on duty at the event we were at). And I don't like being bothered by flies.

So we tend to do something very radical. We spend the day outdoors, eat indoors...and then go back out again! It's an amazing compromise!

Because people clearly enjoy summer differently. Your way isn't the definite right way to enjoy summer.

He sounds like a bore but it’s his preference. You can’t change him, you’re just mismatched. Why does your daughter go inside? Don’t let him dictate where she goes!!

Yes it would. But they want to eat inside and you want to eat out. So why should you “win”?

They don’t seem bothered about eating together as a family, they’re happy to go inside without you. You’re the one that’s bothered so you need to choose between eating outside or eating together. You can’t make them sit out just because YOU want them to.

For the record I do prefer outside as well, but I can understand everyone is different and has different preferences.

I hate eating outside, either at home or on holiday. Don’t like staff plonking down my cutlery on pub garden tables where pigeons have been walking and shitting. Not to mention pests like seagulls, wasps, flies, stray cats in abundance in many holiday resorts, etc.

If your DH and DD don’t like eating outside, why not eat inside and sit round the table chatting, but all spend time together outside too, playing in the pool or having an evening drink or whatever?

I wouldn’t. I’d rather be inside an air conditioned room than eating and marinading in my sweat while swatting flies. Saying that as someone who grew up in Europe whose family insisted on eating outside in summer (and wasn’t even as hot as now back then).

I agree. I can't bear being cooped up.when it's glorious outside. I'm sitting outside now with the fire pit on awaiting my dinner. I eat outside all through the summer unless it's raining.

But you can enjoy the sun without eating outdoors.

If you want to sit outside and eat, then that’s fine. I probably would too.

But if your DH and DD want to sit inside and eat, then that’s fine too.

Just eat separately.

I'm another who prefers the idea of al fresco dining to the reality. I don't object to the occasional BBQ, but I can live without picnics. Many years ago, after an appointment with our solicitor re some conveyancing, we bought items for a picnic and visited the local park. We settled down and as soon as the cake came out, we were accosted by a gaggle of geese. Their leader was a huge white goose with the demeanour of a school bully come to snatch your lunch money. He/she had a nasty-looking beak and hench-geese, so we wrapped up the remains of our picnic and got out of there.

I can't remember the last time I had fish and chips in the open air. If you live in much of the UK, you're taking a risk and I'm not far from Whitby, where the herring gulls are basically thugs. If I want fish and chips at the seaside, I have them inside!