DD does not want to come on another caravan holiday next summer

[Charlotte350]

Have been discussing family holidays over dinner today and my DD going on 15 said "if it's another caravan holiday to Mabel thorpe I'm not coming" she stated how much she hates it and I said well in that case you will have to stay with grandparents...she then said "I would be happy staying at home and just have a few friends over and I said no and tbh she was really rude and back chatting me while I said calmly what my reasons were. I think she should come on the holiday, however I don't want her spoiling it with moodiness if she doesn't want to be there so I will be asking grandparents to have her it would only be for the week. I'm not leaving a 15 year old home alone for a week. Has anyone else left a teenager with a relative/ grandparents while on holiday when they don't want to go?

You’re probably asking the wrong site @Charlotte350as half of Mumsnet has probably not set foot in a caravan. We take ours to caravan sites - we let the older ones take friends - would she be up for that? It means they can usually find more to do. Could you look for a more fun site near Mablethorpe?

Hahah yes, each to their own but who wants to have to listen to their Dad on the toilet whilst your mum cooks breakfast 18ninches away from the toilet door😅

I'd generally be in the camp of leave her at home alone with adults she could call for help if needed but probably not during the May half term.

Is she 15 in Year 10 or Year 11?

If 15 in Year 11 the May half term will be full of revision and ideally she'll be able to stay at home with her own stuff around her and some adult supervision/ company to make sure she's revising.

Would she want your company specifically? Or would a grandparent staying with you and the little ones elsewhere be more helpful to her?

If Year 10 it's worth checking whether she's sitting any GCSE papers this summer.

I’ve just come back from Mablethorpe. I live about 40 minutes away. Quite frankly I wouldn’t want to spend a week in
a caravan there either!

Get a life? You think dragging teenagers to ropey, bland, deadkful northern, run down seaside towns is the height of luxury and deserves immense gratitude! You are as sad and lifeless as it gets, what a dreadful life if a week somewhere manky is all.you have to look forward to.

I wouldn’t want to be in a caravan with my parents and or siblings at 15 either.

I have no idea where Mablethorpe is or why it’s so bad but my youngest created merry hell on a holiday in Greece when she was 15 and after that she stayed with grandparents. Doesn’t matter the location, if they don’t want to go they’ll ruin it regardless so leave her home with the grandparents for a week.

I live in Lincolnshire and my partner and we have driven out there years ago for a trip out and there was just nothing there unless you want to sit in a pub all day. It's not about snobbery, it's a s out having a sense of adventure and wanting to see the world, it's a very good and healthy way to live and not snobbery. Mablethoroe just isn't a place you can spend more than about 2 or 3 hours.

People that choose to have the same sad holiday to Mablethorpe every summer and be cramped in a towing caravan need to expect their kids to hate it and want to leave that life as soon as possible.

If somebody threatened me with a caravan holiday I don’t think I’d be overjoyed at the thought either!!

Anyone else googling Mablethorpe?

Why not go to a different place? I’ve not been to Mabelthorpe but it seems it might not be the best place to go. She might cope with a caravan if it was somewhere nicer. Why do you keep going back there? There will be other cheap sites with stuff to do. She is agreeing to go to Wales so the issue must be Mabelthorpe. Are the younger ones her step siblings?

Im team DD I’m afraid- I could not imagine going to Mablethorpe more than once! Can you not combine the 2 holidays and go somewhere warm and family friendly?

Why does her pov not count - there are plenty of places that cater for all ages that are not Mablethorpe!!

As a kid I didn’t get holidays so yeah I’d have been more than grateful for a bleak northern break. As it goes I was talking about my current situation. Where I choose to go on holiday & have no one to look after my child, that I wouldn’t leave him home alone & also wouldn’t have him dictate when & where we go on holiday considering he isn’t the only member of the family, (& even though he does go out still spends the majority of his time in his room on his phone) so why would I allow that. How annoyed would I be if we sacrificed a holiday to have him do bugger all &ignore us. You raise what you want & I’ll raise what i want

We left our two at 15 and 16. The idea of museums and art galleries and 'improving' holidays appalled them.
Granny was around if they had a problem
Cleaner came for an hour every day.
Young neighbours were delighted to keep a supervising eye on things.
We went to Europe for 3 weeks. Never being more than half a day's drive from the ferry. France, Holland and Belgium.

Ferry company said they would get us on the next available ferry if there was a problem.
They were absolutely fabulous and the house was immaculate when we got back
Only problem was when British Gas arrived to cut the gas off because the bill hadn't been paid. They had got the wrong house. But the kids sorted it
We went to Turkey for a fortnight the next year - even left them a car

Sorry OP I'm with DD here , we once took our four to Mablethorpe , just for the day Thank God . Got out looked round for ten minutes got back in the car and went home awful place

It sounds entirely like you've done Mablethorpe to death, and you're not willing to compromise because it's too suitable for your younger children.

My mother left me home alone when I was ?13/14 when she went to visit friends in Switzerland with my older sister . I cooked for my father and younger sister, fed the dogs and cats, cleaned, did the shopping, etc.
Can you trust her to be alone for the time you are away?

Did your dad live in a different house? If not I'm not sure how you were home alone?

Yep, my 15 yo asd son now stays with his grandparents who live quite close to us. He is allowed in the house during the day as he feeds the cats but has to go to grandparents in the evening. He’s quite happy just laying in bed playing his Xbox during the day so I trust him in that way. He never invites friends over, whether I’m at home or not. He can’t get his head around why people want to travel and see the world and holidaying makes him so unhappy, he just wants to be in his little bubble. I was worried the first time we did it but it worked out well, it means I get a break too from the relentless trying to make sure he is happy and the getting fed up when nothing makes him happy.

One year we went to the lakes, stayed in a beautiful cottage, went for a drive through one of the gorgeous passes, he put his hood over his head, lay on the back seat and refused to look out the window at anything 😂 I do love his quirky ways but yeegads it’s hard work. We are polar opposites.

An uncomfortable holiday is far worse than just staying at home.

You seem to aggressively want your kids to like only what you like! It's unfair to expect a teenage girl to be cramped in a towing caravan with no space or privacy, nothing to do because the town is small and crap and the parents have done it to the absolute death even though they have the freedom to tow that caravan anywhere! Freedom to give their kids more life experiences yet they stick to a really depressing place that has nothing there! Of course the kids will want to turn their backs on their parents bizarre addiction to Mablethorpe as soon as they are old enough!

I don't have kids, I'm on the outside looking in at the issue with your mindset that you can't see. You bullying your kids to have not very good holidays they hate won't leave them good memories when they are older.

The OP even admitted that Mablethorpe is dodgy as soon as you go away from the beach! If they bully that teenager to go on a holiday she hates, they cannot be surprised if they drive her to start hanging around with youth in Mablethorpe and if she gets in a bad crowd it could end very badly!

I hate caravan holidays. Always have. It doesn’t feel like a holiday to me.

She is too young to stay home alone but no reason she couldn’t stop at grandparents if they don’t mind.

I’m beginning to understand where employers are not wanting to employ young people. I would 100% leave my teen at home if he was 1/active 2/
social & had plans that kept him busy. I would not be entertaining the idea of leaving him if all they were planning was doing was playing on computer games or doom scrolling their phones inside a bubble where social interaction isn’t only minimal but not real. Playing video games even with friends isn’t the social interaction you think it is. So letting them slide into a world of make believe & not having a break, (even if it is somewhere people deem rubbish) interacting with family more & maybe just a reality check to appreciate the area they live in is bonkers to me & I know I’m in the minority on this thread but indulging the needs of teenagers all the time makes them entitled adults. A week a year is all that’s being asked & thinking you’re being unreasonable is so over the top & ridiculous

After reading all the ops posts I think the hint needs to be taken now that the teenager no longer wants to go to a not very exciting or nice place like Mablethorpe and be rammed in a towing caravan with 4 young boisterous and noisy kids, that part of her life is rightfully over. Take the hint that a real holiday place with decent accommodation is what she has said she happy to take part in next year.

Yep! And it sounds boring for me and I am 45. For a teenager it would be hellish, especially if you added in a touring caravan