Kids don't want to go...........

[walkswife]

I have two girls (16 & 22) that would happily pay the $50 name change.... meet you at the port and room with dear grandma;)

[nagster]

Nah I am not a softy, we did discuss it the night before I got online and booked. In respect to the brats though this was a short notice getaway and not our family vacation which we plan months in advance and which we do several times a year. The uprising was probably in response to the punishment I had metered out to both of them a few hours earlier. Thanks for all the advice.

[Iamthesea]

You keep calling your children "brats!" :rolleyes: If they are that bad, perhaps you need Super Nanny to make a visit at your home. :D

[wisefamily4]

Here's my 2 cents:

 

I would bring the kids just as you planned. They are not old enough to veto what their parents have decided for them. They ARE old enough to complain and act like it's the end of the world (can you say teenager).

 

While it sounds like you have easy access to family that can care for them while you're away - I wouldn't do it this time. I think family problems or conflicts should be dealt with the hard way (parents being parents) not by sending the kids away and hoping things get better or to 'take a break'.

 

I'm sure at this point, a cruise without the kids sounds great, however, you planned this trip as family cruise and that may be just what you all need to work things out. I can't think of a better place to do some good ol' parenting than on a cruise ship.

 

Oh yeah..... When you get back, book a short cruise for just Mom & Dad - you may need it.

[dforeigner]

"Dude, for the tax write off, naturally." Shuts them up every time.

 

Priceless!

[truecruiser]

OK, I might get flamed for this BUT....

 

13 & 14 years old.... duh.... If it was me and I booked them a cruise, then they're going...like it or not... Since when do you let kids that age rule your life??? Don't let them stress you out... You're the parent....

 

Sorry, but thats my opinion....

 

 

Elaine

 

i agree 100% w/ you Elaine!

[winewanderer]

Perhaps this will turn out like the Royal Carribean commercial with the young teenager whose family would like to see her smile and after snorkeling, jetskiing, etc. they finally get that smile.

 

I'm sure they'll have fun once they're there.

[sharecruises]

Wow....that is seriously sad....I feel for you

 

I think parents of teens who do not want to cruise should look into alternatives AHEAD of time...>>

 

maybe there are programs where these kids who don't want to cruise can volunteer and build houses for habitat, or work with inner city kids or clean up the roadsides of their state highways...if they don't want to cruise

 

the 18 year old can swing a hammer and help build a habitat house...or at 18 could even go to work at a clinic in Haiti for a week, get a bit of sunshine while at it :) JMO of course....I bet MOST of us here would have loved to cruise as a teen or were/are grateful if their parents took them

 

Hope this all works out for the best for you, maybe Mom can bring a friend along to split one of the room costs

[GayleR]

Wow! We have just the opposite at our house. DH and I want to go on a short cruise without the kids. They were very upset when we mentioned it to them. "Please don't go without us; we love cruising as much as you do; we don't want to stay with our Grandparents." Can't say I blame them about the grandparent part. :eek: We haven't decided if we are going to book without them. Still thinking about it. BTW, our kids are 15, 14, and 14 (yes, twins.)

[johnaricka]

I have four kids.....10, 14, 18 and 20. There will always be someone complaining about something. You just have to have the attitude that you dont have to participate in their fight or complaining. Make them go on the trip. They can sit in the room and sult the entire trip but they cant take the easy way out and stay home. Tell them that they are part of a family and will participate on family vacations. We are taking a cruise in June with the two youngest brats. Fortunately they are excited but there has been many a vacations that they werent excited about. We tell our kids that it is our jobs as parents to force them to do stuff they dont want to do. It isnt right for them to change your plans and to inconvience you with losing money for them not going. We tell our kids that as long as we financially support them and emotionally support them, they dont get any democratic privleges in our family.

You just need to be unemotional about it and not participate in their game. Tell them it is final and walk away from the conversation!

[we2cruze]

In my opinion, if the kids did not want to go and I had paid for the trip, they would be going, if there was any way the kids might perceive my leaving them home as a win because it will make the next time there is an issue much harder to resolve. I say this in hindsight from someone that was too big a softy when it came to raising my girls and that comes directly from the girls.

 

Carol

 

I totally agree. If throwing a fit gets a child his/her own way, then guess how they'll react next time and the next time and the next time.....

[cruisinbuddy]

Adopt me and my wife, we'll go. Grandma can take turns in each cabin, nudge nudge, :D

[mikedw]

Do as my father would have done. Slap them both in the face and tell them there going, they are the kids and you are the parents, they have no say in anything.. End of story.

[we2cruze]

Do as my father would have done. Slap them both in the face and tell them there going, they are the kids and you are the parents, they have no say in anything.. End of story.

 

This reminds me of something my father used to say (tongue in cheek), "You're gonna go and you're gonna have fun, whether you like it or not!".