Child-Free Couple Wonders How To Ditch Trip With Friends Whose Unruly Kids Just Ruin Everything

Have you ever wondered why no movie or TV series ever shows the perfect romantic or friendly vacation with kids? Well, simply because a full-fledged vacation and little kids are just two mutually exclusive things. Of course, there are always exceptions—but they, by and large, only confirm the basic rule.

We have told you stories more than once about how unruly kids ruined their parents’ friendly trips or their friendships, per se, and now it’s time to tell you another one—from the user u/Front_Isopod8642, who at one point had to face the eternal problem of many childless couples: their friends’ offspring…

More info: Reddit

The author of the post and her husband have two mutual friends who are a couple with 2 little kids

Group of kids running and splashing in the water during a chaotic trip, showcasing misbehaved friends' kids outdoors.

Image credits: Ron Lach / Pexels (not the actual photo)

The author and her spouse are childless, so joint trips don’t look very pleasant for them now

Couple struggling with friends' misbehaved kids turning every trip into chaos, seeking a way out of stressful holidays.

Text describing kids turning trips into chaos as a couple struggles with extremely misbehaved children during outings.

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Alt text: Parents frustrated as friends' kids exhibit extreme misbehavior, turning every trip into chaos for the couple.

Image credits: Front_Isopod8642

Child displaying misbehaved behavior by shouting and covering ears, illustrating kids turning any trip into chaos.

Image credits: Keira Burton / Pexels (not the actual photo)

The author considers the friends’ offspring to be ill-mannered and unruly, so they actually ruin any rest

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Text describing misbehaved kids causing chaos during trips, with no consequences from their parents.

Text describing kids constantly nagging and creating chaos during family activities and trips, showing misbehaved behavior.

Text excerpt showing a couple describing how friends' kids are extremely misbehaved and cause chaos on trips.

Image credits: Front_Isopod8642

Close-up of colorful game pieces and dice on a board game symbolizing kids turning any trip into chaos.

Image credits: Ylanite Koppens / Pexels (not the actual photo)

For instance, recently, the friends’ son hit the author’s husband in the face—but the parents preferred to sweep it under the rug

Alt text: Frustrated couple describing friends' kids who misbehave and cause chaos on every trip, seeking a way out.

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Text excerpt describing a couple struggling with friends’ kids’ misbehavior during trips, seeking a way out.

Couple feeling terrorized as friends' kids misbehave and turn every trip into chaos, seeking a way out.

Image credits: Front_Isopod8642

So, the author wants to find a way out in order to avoid further joint trips—and took it online to seek advice

So, the Original Poster (OP) says that she and her husband have mutual friends who have already become parents twice—a daughter recently joined the boy, who is now 5 years old. And since then, despite a close and strong friendship, almost any joint trip or spending time together have become completely awful for our heroine.

According to the author, their friends’ kids are extremely misbehaved, loud and attempt to insert themselves literally anywhere (that is, in fact, they behave just like many children at that age—this is a sad, but realistic remark from myself…). For instance, the eldest son constantly wants attention and communication—and when he doesn’t get it, he will even show aggression.

So, recently, he even hit the OP’s husband in the face—and for him, the situation didn’t have any consequences. As soon as they turn on the TV to watch a movie, the kids immediately demand to switch to cartoons, and if their demands aren’t met, a fit follows. By the way, the parents are also human, and sometimes they unceremoniously consider friends to be free babysitters when they want to have fun themselves.

In general, our heroine and her husband are seriously thinking about how to avoid further invitations from friends for a “joint vacation”—simply because they can’t call it a vacation. On the other hand, they’re afraid that a flat-out refusal will put an end to a long-standing friendship, which they certainly would not want. And so, the spouses decided to take this situation online to seek some advice from netizens.

Couple arguing on couch, visibly frustrated, reflecting stress from friends kids misbehaving and causing trip chaos.

Image credits: Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Let’s start with the fact that our heroine and her spouse are far from the first people to face this problem, and a universal solution, alas, hasn’t yet been found. In any case, no matter how incredible the patience of the OP and her husband is, with each new trip in such conditions, irritation will only increase. Well, and beside that, different topics for conversation also appear.

Yes, that’s right—for parents, a shift in priorities is quite inevitable towards topics that somehow revolve around their offspring, while friends longingly remember the good old days of just having fun together. Perhaps, from this point of view, it’d be reasonable to take a short break from traveling together—but justify this very diplomatically, so as not to offend the friends in any way.

Experts also believe that parents should maybe try to teach kids to be able to rest during at least some periods of the day. “One was in the early afternoon and then obviously the one was their bedtime where they were able to stay in bed and really give us time in the evening,” Jeremy Pryor, a father of five and the author of the Family Teams podcast claims. Even during a trip, instilling such a skill in kids would be a real gift for parents!

Be that as it may, many commenters sincerely urge the couple to come to terms with what is happening and either wait until the children of their friends get older, or accept the fact that their carefree shared past can no longer be returned. “Once the family dynamics changes, friendship changes too,” someone wrote quite wisely. So by the way, what could you, our dear readers, advise this couple in the described case?

People in the comments urged the woman and her spouse to just let it go—and maybe wait until the kids get older

Reddit conversation about friends' kids causing chaos on trips and a couple seeking a way out of the misbehavior.

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Comment suggesting a couple take separate vacations to avoid chaos caused by friends' misbehaved kids during trips.

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