Stop me before I do something rash!!!

mountainofdebt

Well when I first read the post I thought that the weekend was to be spent at a cottage (= forced time together) and was a little sympathic to the niece - then I found out it was at Centreparcs where there are plenty of things a 17yr old can do...even if she does have to spend some time with her rotten family.....and I thought was a mare she was that she couldn't spend a weekend just to please her grandparents

OP - if your niece doesn't want to go I'll come and gladly take part in any family activities you've organised!

Ginger_Poodle

If there ever was a perfect example of why you shouldn't have family members as Facebook friends, this is it!

seven-day-weekend

pinkshoes wrote: »

I'd just reply to the message on FB saying "ooohhh, what a b*tch your aunt sounds! I'm pleased I don't have an aunt who spends time and effort organising a ruby wedding anniversary to make two old people very happy and have all their family around them"

Hey! It's my Ruby Anniversary this year too! Not so much of the 'old'!

Just tell the ungrateful little brat that she needn't bother coming and can stay at home on her own and look after her dog.

coolcait

Of course, maybe it's a cunning double bluff...

Maybe she's actually looking forward to it, but doesn't want her friends to think it's all a bit lame.

So she acts all 'poor wee me, downtrodden by the ancients'.

Or she might just be acting like a teenager, as others have said.

I'd opt for 'liking' the Facebook message, and leaving it at that.

Until I had the chance to speak to the girl (you know - that thing we used to do before we had text or Facebook or email. 'Speaking' they called it. )

Preferably face to face. But, nowadays, even speaking on the phone seems incredibly intimate and personal compared to all the other ways we communicate with each other!

(I'll get me zimmer frame and leave.... ;))

Sweet_Pea_2

Don't you think life was more relaxed pre facebook when we all lived in blissful ignorance, you wouldn't know what niece was really thinking you could delude yourself into thinking that she was really looking forward to a trip to center parks! If it was my niece I'd have a hard time being civil until I calmed down a bit.

January20

Person_one wrote: »

17 is a young adult, nobody would be able to force an 18 year old, or a 21 or a 40 year old to spend a week at Center Parcs if they didn't want to. I don't see how letting an older teenager make their own decisions and take responsibility for a family pet for a week counts as pandering or not letting them grow up!

I would expect a 21 or 40 year to give up a weekend to make their grandparents happy on such an important occasion. Otherwise, I would think them very poor relatives and not really worthy of my time.

Yes, 17 year old is a young adult and therefore should be acting as such, since they usually want people to treat them as adults. Consequently, I would expect a young adult of 17 to behave in exactly the same mature manner as a 40 year old in these circumstances!

And not to be so rude to her aunt!

j.e.j.

I'm sure I would have said the same sort of thing when I was 17 (many years ago :rotfl:), - it's just that back then you just said things to your friends rather than write them on Facebook where all and sundry can see what you've written!

Lil_Me_2

j.e.j. wrote: »

I'm sure I would have said the same sort of thing when I was 17 (many years ago :rotfl:), - it's just that back then you just said things to your friends rather than write them on Facebook where all and sundry can see what you've written!

Just under where you write your status there is a little padlock which allows you to publish to a select group of people or say specifically not to allow X to see it. The least she could have done is block her aunt (and perhaps family in general) from seeing it!

Person_one

January20 wrote: »

I would expect a 21 or 40 year to give up a weekend to make their grandparents happy on such an important occasion. Otherwise, I would think them very poor relatives and not really worthy of my time.

Wow, then you can write me off!

I wouldn't lift a finger to make one set of my grandparents happy, entirely because they've been very 'poor relatives' to me and my close family all my life. Just because somebody shares a few strands of DNA with you does not mean they are automatically worthy of your time and energy.

renegade

Why are you getting so uptight about a teenager voicing her opinion?
Perhaps she is not upset with you for organising it but her parents for forcing her to go?
Contact her parents, ask how they would feel if she didn't go but stayed home with her pet..would they be happy with this..is she responsible enough, could they trust her?
If they insist on her going then the problem is theirs not yours and tell them they need to relay this to their teen daughter.
Nothing worse then having a teen at a special party if they don't want to be there.
She is 17 yrs old, she is allowed a voice in these matters when it involves her.
Talk, talk, talk!