He’s going to ruin our holiday

We are going on a family villa holiday in a couple of weeks. My daughter is 17 and apparently in love. Very reluctantly, we have agreed that her boyfriend could come, even though the rest of the family don’t really like him. My daughter said she wouldn’t come if he couldn’t. He seems lazy and a bit dull. Whenever I try to engage him in conversation, it’s obvious he is dying to get away. My son, who is 14, thinks he’s the most boring person he has ever met. How are we going to survive a family holiday? Usually my children get on well together but I fear this year my son will feel left out and it will be no fun for any of us. Is it too late to tell my daughter her boyfriend can’t come after all? Unfortunately, I think if you tell your daughter that her boyfriend can’t go away with you, she would probably refuse to go too, which would be sad and also create other problems – I can imagine that you don’t want to leave the pair of them in charge of your house for a fortnight! It’s not easy but I think the only thing you can do is talk to your daughter and her boyfriend. Say that, while you are very happy for him to come on holiday with you, you are concerned that your son may feel left out and will miss his sister’s company, and that while you are away, it is fine for them to go off and do their own thing sometimes but that for at least part of the day, and some evenings, you do expect them to join in with family activities. I would also cheerfully, but firmly, give the boyfriend some chores to do while you are away. Hopefully if he is as dull as he seems, this will gradually dawn on your daughter and you won’t have this problem next year!