Now worried about holiday, as intending to leave Dc's in room while we eat...

[OutragedfromTunbridgeWells]

we're going to villa Pia (as recommende on MN) where children eat early and then go to bed and parents eat later all together.

This seemed a great idea to me before.

but now obviously with tragic and frightening abduction of Madeleine, it's playing on my mind and feel we cannot do this.

Are any others having such dilemmas? what should we think/do??

It is lovely, we do ahve other places we want to go visit- but they can wait a few years and then the boys will be old enough to appreciate them or to stay behind. they row up too fast anyway.

We aregetting 7 breaks away (including weekends) this year for under a total of £400 for 5 of us. Surely the amassed effect of that is mroe relaxing than one week or a ofrtnight somewhere? And that includes a campsite in the summer holidays with a private beach, and another summer hol trip to St davids, plus Whitsun / my birthday in July and a few other weekends.

I think its interesting how this ties in with the eco large family thread- I suspect poelpe who choose to have a large family are often the types who are happy to do the Uk holiday with the kids type of thing? I may be wrong, but BIl just had a vasectomy after one child (although they were told not to have any mroe by the doctorsd, they had planned it that way anyhow) precisely so they don't have to stop their trip off on Safari etc a few times a year.

Which perhaps illustrates how very different all people are, and how you can't make judgements about anybodies lifestyle based on one piece of info- child number, for example.

janitor, ahavent looked at anywhre specific - we are moving house next month and if we have any cash left over from that we will be going away in October (will it be ok in October?)

we were in a vila in france last year - hardly left it - ate all together then kids swam in the pool until very late with dh while I drank wine - smile...

Ditzy the best threads offer a wide range of opinions and viewpoints. As does this thread. Its how MN works.

Kerrymum htat could happen in your own house

"For those who have booked and paid for it, the justified concern as to what to do is a worthwile discussion."

ok you have three options

1. cancel
2. go and eat early then stay in the room while the kids sleep
3. go and leave your kids while you go and have dinner alone

Those of you who's children stay up, do they also sleep in?

mine dont

they manage it for about three days then have a couple of early nights

I take blackout curtain liners along!

This year, we're doing a self-catering cottage outside Nairn in June, where it'll be light most of the time.

lol @ routine on holiday

two years ago dh and I had a horrific first week trying to get the kids to bed at the 'normal' time

then we discovered letting them stay up and muck about while we drank wine - the second week was bliss!

AS well as the more dramatic risks, does nobody else just not like the thought of their LO waking up after a nightmare and seeing Mummy not there?

On our weekend away we were amazed by how many kids were wanderinga round, often past 10 at night and alone, kids of 5, 6. We even found one under two crying alone in a hedge ! And on the way home a child on the site cycled into our (fortunately stationary) car- clearly unable to steer and wearing no helmet.

I know we all need breaks, but I don't understand? Perhaps my virew of what a 7 year old is capable of is skewed a bit by DS1's HFA, but DS2 is as Nt as they come and I wouldn't like him where I couldn't see him / hear him for more than a few minutes either.

Which doesn't make these parents wrong (unless they let their kids out on bikes with no helmet, or under 2 fgs, in which case they are imo) but amazes me how diiferent a parenting style I have to many people!

Oh, yes, we let them run about daft on holiday.

We have no garden or outdoor space, so for us holiday is about a cottage with these facilities.

The wee one exhausts herself running around in the garden or up and down stairs - since we live in a flat all on one level - whilst Daddy gets the BBQ going and Mama drinks white port with tonic water and lemon .

Kerrymum yes, but the fire etc can happen whether you are there or not.

God I'm so glad ds is older. Now he can stay up until 8pm or so (if he has a nap) we all eat together early at 6pm. HOWEVER I remember our first holiday with him when he was 7 months old. Dinner started at 6pm (WAY to late for ds in those days as he was spark out by 6pm in the evenings). We tried it one night and the crying was just not worth it. The next night we tried the baby sitting option (take him to the central creche where children played/fell asleep etc) we were called in as he was crying so much.

So we gave up and alternated, one of us went down for dinner early (alone) while the other stayed with ds and then when we got back the other went down. Not much fun tbh.
The room was too far away from the restaurant for me to be confortable leaving him even with a monitor on so that option was out.

I was really quite of all the families out and about late on with sleeping babies.

FWIW if I ever had another child like ds I'd just go for the self catering option until he/she was old enough to stay up a bit later. If I had an easy child who just fell asleep then I'd probably take them with me.

I have left ds asleep in a hotel room though (with monitor or constant listening in service)and where the restaurant was downstairs and very close when we have been away for a weekend.

I am well aware of how MN works and use it to get specific advice on specific things.

I am sorry but this thread has been hijacked by those who would never go on a MW sort of holiday. I looked at the thread wanting similar advice and for those of us going on this sort of holiday we have similar concerns. I wasn't looking to find out where people who would never go MW go away.

Kidnapping
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Fire
Happens anywhere just doesn't get reported.

Mark Warner ? seriously good holiday. We have friends who utterly poohed poohed it who now go every year. Mealtimes are not as inflexible as some say and there are always kids around.

Back to the dilema of what to do once there? I don't know, we are going to see how things are, suspect alot of kids will be up and about and also expect everyone to be on tenterhooks.

There is another option as well- Sunday we had a lovely meal out at a restaurant, at lunchtime. Mine have never been an issue n the evenings tbh (sleep? what's that ) but its an easy option nonetheless.

mine do after a couple of days -

Siestas mean we don't lose too much of hte day

Ditzy
Enid pretty much summed up the options.

I'm sorry this thread isn't going how you'd like.