Spinoff complaining teenagers - whiny preteen on a trip

amother

Powderblue

Wed, Sep 09 2015, 2:04 pm

We live near a beautiful state park with many hiking trails, and me and my DH really enjoy hiking. We have 2 kids, a 6 year old boy and a 11 year old girl. The boy enjoys hiking tremendously, has tons of fun and almost never complains. The 11 year old young lady likes the idea of hiking trip, however about 10 minutes after we set off on a trail she starts the endless complaints, whining, guilt tripping me, and generally ruining everyone's mood. Now the complaints may be reasonable but...

- "my pants are falling off" (after I asked her 3 times to change pants before leaving the house and she refused)
- "its too hot"
- "why is this trail so steep"
- "these bees are bothering me"
- "you are walking too fast"
- "why do I have to carry my own water"

Answering nicely doesn't help. Ignoring doesn't help. She also slows down and refuses to catch up, which is simply not safe because the woods are deep and there is wildlife, snakes etc. So everyone has to stop and wait for her every 2 minutes. The end result that everyone's mood is ruined and we end up turning back and cutting the hike short.

An obvious solution would be to not take her to the next trip, however:
- I really need to get her to do some activity (she is overweight)
- She is actually looking forward to hikes and is always asking when we are going next
- I work 2 jobs and don't get to spend that much time with her during the week, and this is a great opportunity to spend time together as a family
- a mere threat of not taking her next time caused a major meltdown with "you must really hate me" and "you only love D" (younger child)...

Help! How do I enjoy we enjoy our hikes and keep the family together???