In an apparent moment of madness some time ago, myself and my husband finally agreed that we would pay for, after much haranguing, our son's holiday to Kos, on which 4 other school friends (boys) are going, as a reward for working hard on their GCSE exams. (He is 16 in June). We know the friends going, and their parents, but are still dreading it!! What measures can we take from the UK to help them have a happy and safe holiday? Are there any suitable bolt holes in Kos we can direct them to if necessary? Advice and insights from others would be much appreciated ? Thea

Hi Thea. My teenage son went on his first holiday to Spain last year and I was dreading it too! Sending them off with a mobile phone (with lots and lots of credit) and a charger is a big help. Organising a day when they should phone you to tell you how they are getting on is good too. This also means you can put useful numbers in their contacts, i.e. their hotel, the airport etc etc. I also found that just sitting down and talking through what my worries were, made me realise how grown up my son was, and had in fact considered many of potential pitfalls I had been worrying about. They have to do it sometime, after all it is part of growing up and is part of learning to look after themselves. It has changed the dynamics of our family holiday, but it also means that our younger children get more of chance to do the things they want to do on holiday! Good luck, and I hope your sons holiday goes well.