To say I'm dreading Easter Bank Holidays ?

We don't do clothes shopping other then online, neither of us drink tea or coffee, we don't read, we have no interest in the arts/theatre/cinema/NT/gigs/long walks (due to rain anyway)/nature reserves and we don't have a dog)

Other than running or going to the beach the only hobby you’ve mentioned is watching films and television, so surely you must be interested in cinema (if not theatre), unless you only watch films your children pick or reality TV and sport? Could you look at the listing for your closest independent cinema? The main problem seems to be that you don’t have many hobbies or interests, so it’s not really surprising that you’re bored over a long weekend?

If your children wanted to go out for the day, if they were really enthusiastic about it and money was no object, what would you really like to do?

13 is the youngest teen year so not mid teen at all! 15 is mid teen.

A 13 yo I would expect to basically go where you take them. 15/16 they’re old enough to be left.

Just plan something and go. You’re blaming the kids for your lack of enthusiasm.

Particularly as they have got each other for company, they won't even be alone!

You haven't said how old your DCs are. Mid teens so I presume 14/15/16? Surely you can go to the pub or out for a meal with your DH, they don't need you there all the time.

OP what do you normally do when it’s the weekend?

So you have no interest in anything, and anything you could do that you might enjoy takes 10 hours minimum. Your kids similarly don’t have any interests, but equally want to be with you and don’t want to be left for the day. I don’t understand what you want? If you said what you actually want, maybe someone could give ideas. Kindly OP, you’re quite defeatist and just throwing up barriers for yourself.

I am a completely lone parent. I can’t go on day trips 10 hours at a time without my (younger than yours) kids. I have to do things that fit in the in between zone. Go out when it isn’t raining, yes there are breaks. But you hate walking and coffee and history and the cinema and seemingly everything else. What do you actually want to do, what would you do if it was fabulous weather this weekend? What’s the dream?

It does sound like you are just happy moaning. Knock yourself out

Although actually having read your latest update you don't seem to have any interests whatsoever so no wonder you're bored.

From your last post I would suggest you and your DH both need to start finding hobbies you enjoy to do alone and things you like to do together. From that long list it doesn’t sound like there’s anything you like to do at all and you’ve probably got stuck in a rut. You’ve probably only been doing stuff with the kids for years and now they are that bit older don’t know what to do? I was a lone parent and once my child was older I also really struggled as I had only ever done things with him so I had to start trying to do other things, it is hard.

I am also not looking forward to the break as it will just be myself and my partner, we have made no plans as emotionally it’s easier that way. We are currently NC or very very LC (ie a phone call or later a few times a year no visits) with all family on both sides and we don’t have any friends so it’s just the two of us. But I’m sure we will still pop out somewhere nice each day, we have our own hobbies to do at home, garden and household stuff to get organised together, a couple of nice meals together (we take turns to cook), a picnic out and will probably have a movie night one evening and enjoy a lay in one day. I had been hoping to go to the cinema but I’ve just checked and that would be £25 so not an option now. Just little things that don’t cost anything apart from fuel.

Normally days we are both free, for example a Saturday, we try to find things to do together. We are on a tight budget but so far this year each weekend we’ve got out in the car somewhere. We’ve been to lots of nearby places, all under an hour away. We usually look for free parking and tend to take a sandwich with us to eat in the car, we just go out to get a change of scenery. Amazingly we’ve had some really nice days out (ie 3-4hours) even with the terrible weather and now we are back to not knowing what to do we are starting to do the same places over again 3 months later but do a different thing when we visit. We’ve been to two new parks, new for us, in two of the places one of which was really lovely so they are now added to the list of things to do in those places so we are broadening our list of things to go and do. We are not members of NT etc as can’t afford that right now so everything’s really cheap.

Check on a map an hour or so radius from your house and start going to all the different places or see what’s in each place. There must be decent parks, nature reserves, cute towns to walk around? As for hobbies we both have separate ones so they take up on our evenings and other spare time. I’ve had to make a conscious effort to do all of this in the last couple of years as I had to have therapy for my MH as I was so low only ever cooking and cleaning. I also try to get some fresh air every day, even just a walk around the block breaks the monotony.

If you start making the time to do this in a couple of Easter’s or summers from now you and your DH will have a ‘bank’ of things to go and do that you like.

I really don't understand your predicament. Have a couple of days in, pottering, reading, watching tv, whatever else you enjoy. Then you and husband have a couple of days of going for a walk or a coffee, lunch at a pub followed by a few drinks, cinema, museum, or whatever takes your fancy. Teens will be fine left for a few hours. They need to learn to stop 'expecting' you both to be around.

@BringMeSunshineAllDayLong

DH isn't much into socialising so I go out quite a lot without him.

Same here - but I'm inspired by your post for when my DC get a bit older and have a bit more time on my hands- so much fun things out there to do!

"Lots of people saying they were left at 16 and went off on their own at 16. The world was a different place back then."

Indeed. Our parents didn't have mobile phones on which they could be contacted in an emergency! My parents didn't even have a landline until I was 21 - which was after I'd left home.

What baffles me is that the two teens can freely go out with their mates leaving the OP/DH - but the OP/DH can't (apparently) do the same. They're safer in the house alone than they are out doing who knows what.

It doesn’t really sound like you have many interests OP, I’m not surprised you’re bored, quite apart from being unable to leave teens.

How old are the kids - it's been asked lots of times
What would you like to do? Rather than listing all the things you don't want to do
You are counting a day out as a 10 hour trip, why can't you and DH go to the local pub for a couple of hours in the afternoon?

I would kill to have a long weekend with nothing to do. Sleep. Read a book. Batch cook. Watch telly.

What would you say your usual hobbies/things you do for relaxation are, OP? (Sorry if I've missed this!)

Has the OP not been back?

What have I just read. Mid teens and can't be left alone all day.

Wtf. Lots of my friends left home at 16 (that was too young but still!)
I went on holiday for 2 weeks to Europe at 16 with 2 friends is was brilliant. Same again at 17 with 8 friends.
You need to get some interests away from your (dull sounding) family. What do you like?
Things I enjoy and do regularly with and without my DC and DH : playing sport (netball, football, tennis), going to the gym, walking up mountains, wild swimming, clubbing, pub quizzes, singing in a choir, going to gigs, going to art exhibitions, doing yoga, learning to dance (very badly but enthusiastically), going on weekends away with friends and with family, going to the cinema, life drawing classes, pottery classes, eating out a different restaurants, cooking new food, meeting friends for a coffee or a drink, going to a new bar/club/venue, taking dogs for a walk, going to the library, going to festivals (with and more fun without the kids), learning to play the piano, playing Xbox even though I'm shite, learning Spanish both online and in a class, putting on a.dinner party for my friends, day trips to other cities/the beach/countryside, visiting family around the country, volunteering at my local community centre, going out with work colleagues.
DH isn't much into socialising so I go out quite a lot without him.

But your child is 12, when she is 15/16 you will be able to leave her for longer, no baby sitter either.

OP - dp and I take it in turns to have proper nights out with friends, so we at least feel we have a life outside of immediate family!

I do get it OP (unlike some of the other posters).

Dd is 12 - yes we can (and do) leave her home alone for a few hours (not late in the evening tho), yes we can (and do) get a babysitter sometimes. But she needs to get off a screen and out of the house too.

Yes we drag her out on days out, walks etc. We can make her come out - we can't make her not sulk or talk to us properly or eat if we go for a meal out. Which ruins our day out.
Yes we can take her phone away/stop her allowance etc - just results in more sulking.
Obvs occasionally she's delightful but we never know which version we're going to get.

That's the biggest difference as kids morph into teens I think - all it took was the promise of an ice cream or pizza or movie etc to buy compliance.

none of those barriers are real, you’ve just created them all in your head and then blamed others for them.