My son is 12, and lately he doesn't want to do anything with me, which is normal for his age. But now he's saying he doesn't want to come on holiday with me.
We've had some great holidays together. We're quite adventurous. We've been backpacking across Asia in recent years and we've done plenty of stuff that he's loved. But now he says we "always argue" so he'd rather spend time with his dad who lives abroad and whom he only sees twice a year. (I wouldn't mind, but when he's with his dad, he complains about him too!)
He's the kind of kid who sees himself as my equal and digs his heels in whenever he can. I try to see his point of view where appropriate while holding a hard line when it's important. But I just don't know what to do with this.
It's important to me that we spend some time as a family - albeit a very small one. But if I force him, he's quite capable of ruining the holiday. A large part of me thinks he should just stop being such a bloody brat and count himself lucky he's getting a holiday at all!
Anyone got any suggestions??