Foreign holidays

[pipscariad]

I am getting a bit of grief at the moment from No1 son, who is feeling peeved as 'everyone' else goes abroad for their holidays and we don't. My boys started secondary school in September, so now have a bigger group of friends and so many of them do go to far flung places for their hols. We have been to France with the twins twice, but they were very young and can't remember it, which annoys him even more! I've explained that we would go abroad if we could afford it - in fact I'm saving our clubcard deals like mad in the hope of maybe being able to go abroad later this year, but to be honest what with the price of passports for us all we probably won't make it.

I do feel a bit aggrieved, as it's not as if we don't have holidays - we go away with the in laws (they pay) for a week, although to a different part of Wales, but we have a great time. Abroad is nice, but then so's here! And the main thing is, which I have told him, we are a very happy and loving family who have a lot of fun together. Sorry for the mini rant, but I knew you'd understand and I wanted to get it off my chest!

[kirsty b]

Peer pressure is a wonderful thing!! Used to be dead jealous of my friends who always seemed to have more...everything when I was a teen.
They will grow out of it. I have had a couple of wonderful holidays abroad as an adult, but the best have been in this country. Now we have dogs, we don't go abroad at all, we camp and take them with us.

[lynda66]

ah see you go on holiday to wales ....... you need to go to england or scotland ...... tis foreign dontcha know

[bramble]

Hi Pipscariad, It may well be he is listening to other boys going on about where they are going and he just wants to feel he is doing liokewise.
I would just tell him gently he is lucky to be going on a holiday at all as there are so many who stay at home due to lack of funds.
I know when kids go into secondary school everything changes for them. He is going from being the oldest in the primary school to being a newbie and the youngest in his new school.
Be gentle but firm. In a few years he won't want to go on a holiday with his parents at all.
I would say this is just the beginning for you. My son put me and his dad through the same thing for most of his teenage years. Everyone else could do the things he could'nt do and everyone else had more pocket money than he had.
he is a young married man now with two kids of his own and he has such a demanding daughter who is just turning 6.
its the circle of life.

[bubblewrap]

Ever fancied Ireland.
Easy to get to from where you live(ferries from Fishguard & Pembroke)

[bramble]

Why did'nt I think of that

[pigletwillie]

You got a spare room for us Bramble? lol.

We went to Kinsale in Co Cork a couple of years ago and it was just fabulous. You can even buy Guinness there!

[bubblewrap]

You got a spare room for us Bramble? lol.

We went to Kinsale in Co Cork a couple of years ago and it was just fabulous. You can even buy Guinness there!

Co Cork the home of this
Beamish Irish Stout : Read reviews and compare prices at Ciao.co.uk
And this
http://www.murphys.com/index.php

[pigletwillie]

In Kinsale you can buy a pint of home and away, half guinness, half murphys

[di]

Would changing your reasons from lack of funds to actively reducing your carbon footprint help with the peer pressure??....as yet we've not had to deal with it....but I'm hoping it works with charity shop clothes also!

[bubblewrap]

In Kinsale you can buy a pint of home and away, half guinness, half murphys

A stout cocktail ?

[allotmentlady]

they are lucky to get away..........20 years from now you will be chuckling when they are saying the same thing to their kids.....dont feel pressured. maybe you could go away on holiday on your own one year, leaving them with grandparents, then they will realise what their missing by not going at all!!!

[Two_Sheds]

I am getting a bit of grief at the moment from No1 son, who is feeling peeved as 'everyone' else goes abroad for their holidays

Yes, like everyone else has an X Box/ Adidas trainers/ whatever

I'd give him a little budgeting lesson ... tell him how much cash there is for a holiday, then let him research on lastminute.com (or teletext) what he can get for the money.

Suggest that he can always contribute towards the cost, by getting a paper round ...

[snuffer]

Our two eldest never gave us grief about where we went on holiday but once they were into their late teens they thought they should be allowed to stay at home whilst we went away. For two or three years they did their best to make sure that they didn't enjoy the holiday. Would just sit in the cottage all day watching TV while we went out with the youngest to the beach and suchlike.

Now that they are both adults, given the opportunity, they come with us every chance they get which because of their work comittments is not very often.

Teenagers are a strange breed. For several years we wondered if perhaps morphing aliens had abducted our children and taken their places.

[jackie j]

We have only been abroad once on honeymoon before our daughter was born, she has never been abroad and moaned that all her friends do its not fair etc, Then the school were doing a trip to Belgium at first she didnt want to go because she wanted the first time to be with us, I said if you wait for us you will wait forever, she went and had a great time, she didnt need a passport as they went on a collective one for the school. It was quite expensive but they did loads and it was value for money. The only draw back was they went by coach and ferry and it took all day to get there and back.