Am I being unrealistic about a holiday with two 4 year olds?

[LilMagpie]

Husband and I are looking at holidays. I would like to go for at least a week but he thinks it will be stressful and suggested 5 nights.

Kids are 4 yo twin boys. Relatively easy going kids if I’m honest! I enjoy their company.
I work part time, husband is full time so majority of parenting, housework, meal planning etc falls on me. (Although he is super hands on on his days off and when he gets home)

We’re looking at half board/full board/all inclusive… basically all I care about is not having to plan and cook a dinner every night. Somewhere with a pool, close to a beach and with a few things to do for days out.
I think this will be a nice holiday from my daily routine. Husband thinks it will be stressful- the boys will still need active supervision by the pool so no relaxing with a book and drink, they won’t have many of their toys so won’t be able to entertain themselves as easily in the hotel room during downtime compared to at home. I can see his point of view but I still think it won’t be “stressful” (but maybe I feel differently as my daily mental load will be massively decreased whereas his will increase a bit?) I think we’d get to the end of the 5 nights and wish we’d had longer and that by the time you’ve factored in the journey etc it won’t leave us a lot of time.

We’ve only been away once with them before, but my parents came with us so it was very different. This will be our first time away with just us.

I’d appreciate thoughts from people who have been away with young kids before! 😃

Apart from all the other points, I thought this type of holiday was usually sold per week, rather than x days ?

You don't really know how they will cope with heat/change of routine until you do it.

We took ours twins to Spain and it was a bloody nightmare because one got an ear infection, screamed the whole way on the plane and we needed to do the whole antibiotics thing.

I'd go longer than 5 nights, look at AI so can get snacks etc, also look for a kids club for the age as a lot start at 5. They are great at giving you a break and the kids some activities out of the sun and other kids to play with. Lots of family hotels have a decent play area
Take buckets/mini watering cans etc, can be played with in the pool as well as the beach.
Water toys/sinkies/any home toy that can go in water
Been taking my daughter since she was a baby and it's never been an issue her not having all her toys, she'd take a few barbies to play with

I'd buy one new toy (eg Lego or hot wheels) that you take in your suitcase and get it out in the hotel room. Then you can have that one toys for any down time in the room. Hot wheels and random boxes to build ramps and obstacles can work for hours.

I would definitely do the week. There are brilliant holiday parks abroad (think euro camp style) where there are tons of activities for the children if you want them to attend clubs etc. This would give you a couple of hours to yourselves. Most have a restaurant on site or close by so it wouldn't be half board but you could have dinner every night out.

I'd go for longer, though I don't have twins, we have 2.5 year age gap between ours and our holidays were always fun, I haven't done any that I wouldn't repeat. Plus a long holiday is always better than a short one!

My daughter is the same age. I think you're right...your workload will decrease but his will increase.
He is right about not being able to relax by the pool with a book and drink all the time.
He needs to try and remember it's just a different kind of holiday!
Yous can take turns in the pool with the little ones etc whilst the other relaxes.
With having 2 do they not entertain themselves with each other?
My daughter has a good imagination playing by herself but obviously we play together.

We took toys for the pool, colouring in, water art colouring in. Out door games etc. she took some Barbie's etc.

I found by the time we get ready, get some breakfast, have a bit play etc it's time for lunch.

We also had a couple of trips planned rather than being around the pool all of the time. But again didn't over plan and stopped for plenty of refreshments. Had a little splash along the beach etc

I would also go for the week or 10 days

No, you can do AI package holidays for any number of days providing the flights match with your local airport. We did one last year for 4 nights.

I used to take my twins on AI holidays on my own if husband had used all his holiday leave. I used to love it! They were fab kids and we had a great time!

Thank you! They do entertain themselves quite a lot. But when they get bored then occasionally there is a bit of refereeing to do so that’s where the stress can come in! I think with a few cheap new toys that are a novelty to them and a bit of planning then it will be ok. Maybe not relaxing, but hopefully still a fun holiday!

We used to take our DCs on holidays abroad from baby onwards. It's definitely not relaxing like a couples holiday but it is still worth doing. It's a great way to have fun together as a family, have some new experiences and try different food. And I'm fully onboard with you about having a break from cooking everyday.

We've taken dc on holiday several times a year from when they were babies. Ive not found it stressful. We've often gone away with extended family so we've all just tag teamed. Always had time to read a book and chill. Kids are usually exhausted from heat and being in the sea/ pool all day. We'd head back to the room about 10.30 with a few drinks and put kids to bed and chill on the balcony.
Go somewhere with a kids club so that they can do for at least 2 hours a day.

With kids this age, going abroad for 5 days seems like the worst of both worlds to me.

You're not doing the low hassle, cheaper, can get home easily if you don't like it UK break where it often makes sense to keep it short. It's all the faff of two preschoolers and air travel, with a good chunk of the holiday taken up by them getting used to it. So all the travel, all the difficult behaviour and not as much of the benefits. It's not one thing or the other.

Your husband is nuts if he thinks he can sit and read a book during the day with two small children around!!!

We have been doing half board with a pool and nearby beach since our DDs (now 6 and 4) were 18 months and just turned 4. We LOVE it. Yes, we don't sit and read a book, but honestly, the lack of cooking, cleaning and all the mundane stuff that comes with life, is utter BLISS. I refuse to do self catering or get a villa, as that would just be same shit, different location.
I love going abroad, as bad weather is less likely, and quite honestly each year we have paid less for our holiday abroad than we'd pay for a week here! Our girls have honestly never got bored once. We did days out to nearby towns too. In the room they chilled with a tablet (I honestly don't care about screen time on holiday, as we spent so much time outdoors anyway when they aren't on it), or colouring. We also took a few small books for bedtime stories. They also slept amazingly due to burning so much energy swimming. You'll often find, too, that hotels geared towards families have activities for kids. Surely your DH would get some joy from seeing his kids really enjoy themselves? This is what we love!

https://www.firstchoice.co.uk/holiday/accommodation/overview/Hersonissos/Nana-Golden-Beach-All-Inclusive-Resort-007854?utmsource=google&utmmmedium=cpc&utmcampaign=6949697198&utmmcontent=152971277276&utmterm=nana%20golden%20beach%20all%20inclusive%20resort&gclsrc=aw.ds&gaddsource=1&gbraid=0AAAAADv-NJE8TAUY5maUwP77vcA2dTmUB&gclid=Cj0KCQiAoJC-BhCSARIsAPhdfShzzhlwEKjIQGEHpGQpZX9UFgakr1QZ80Jkmg5TkmymVAzfjZU1xZMaApduEALwwcB

We revisited here from the children being Small. It was wonderful so friendly so child friendly but also had a very good atmosphere for adults enjoying themselves. It's a it's a beautiful hotel. It's safe for little ones and the transport from the airport only an hour highly recommend and it has a great little beach too

We also took a surprise bag of little things on the plane and now and again we got something else a book a colouring book a small toy tiny bag of sweets it just passed the time and they were brilliant

Since you haven’t traveled much as a family yet, I think 5 nights is a good start. It doesn’t seem like that short of a time to me. We take airplane trips sometimes over long weekends and have plenty of fun.

4 is a great age for a holiday, they can entertain themsleves a bit, are fully toilet trained, are able to sit on the plane with a magazine and/or an audio book (headphones!). Go some where AL, with a fantastic kids club (TUI own kids club) and entertainment.

7 days is better because it can take a couple of days to settle into a holiday.

Ai with a kids club suitable from 4 would work perfectly. Buffet dinner (so no waiting) kids disco nightly to wear them out then a balcony to relax on with a drink once they go to sleep. A week is fine as you only get 6 days there. I would personally stick to Spain and somewhere like a TUI blue for families hotel so you know what you're getting, they gear up for Northern European families want (British, Irish, Dutch, German and Scandinavian families mostly)

A week will be fine but you need to choose the right place.

I was always a fan of first choice holiday villages. Decent food and lots of kids activities.

At 4 most kids will just go along with things. They are too young to expect kids activities. I tend to think they never need them unless parents or peers nudge them in that direction. At 4 we did a week in the Lake District and a week in Switzerland. We happened to be lucky with the weather. There were 2 spring breaks in Florence, ideal and weather nice.

At 6 we started going to Cornwall and tried a week abroad. Latter a bit hot and couldn't hack the idea of sitting around a pool and some evenings having entertainment

We take our young children away definitely agree the easiest is an AI we also book ones with children clubs so we get a few hours a few times in the week to go by an adult pool etc.

It is fun we don't expect to visit too many places and our children love being in the pools.

We always loved taking our kids away - and they weren't the easiest. But we have been all over Europe for a week or two (three when the youngest was 6).

It isn't about reading a book by the pool but it's great fun doing new stuff with 4 year olds. Yes, it can be hard work but we both loved holidays.

Don't go anywhere too hot.

We have done Dutch holiday parks, Eurocamp (caravans are better than tents), hotels and self catering apts. They all have their pros and cons. We have never done all inclusive as we like to get out and explore. Only ever done kids club once, when it was a wet afternoon on an Italian caravan park and our 8 year old spotted some kids and wanted to join in.

The really tedious bit is the travel. 2 days spent travelling there and back is better balanced by 5 days to explore than 3 days to explore.