To sometimes feel my kids are odd according to here?

Whenever I see a thread on here about what teenage boys life I have to check if mine are broken.

They are seemingly into none of the stuff that every other teenage boy on the planet likes.

Once my toddler woke up in the night, found a paddling pool, dragged it into his room and filled it up with water, carried in a bowl from the bathroom tap. We found him cackling and splashing around on his bedroom floor.

I obviously need to think more carefully about how to harness the nighttime wandering into productive housework…

This.

Me and DS are chillers, he comes home from school shattered and does just chill most of the evening. Complains if he has to come on a dog walk 😅 hes very sociable at school & is non stop

Where as DD plays out every single night or has her friend round but is quiet at school

Every kid is different, my 4yo has just started reception and does clubs 4 nights a week, she LOVES them and if they're not on for a week she's quite upset. However, she does love a chill day at home and will happily watch a film or play with her toys without it being total carnage. My older ones are teens now but they were much the same when they were younger. Oh and we love a picky tea!

Yep I am fascinated by these people who have 'weekends just chilling at home'. Two very active DCs here; I also can't bear the thought of staying in all weekend. I can't sleep properly if I haven't done much physical activity. We also never do crafting as neither of them has ever shown the slightest bit of interest in it.

This is my DD too!

2 sons here, 2 completely different experiences.

Ds1 was not the chill, craft-doing, jigsaw-enjoying kind of boy. Tried baking- he lasted 5 minutes, then rampaged off around the house, spreading flour everywhere. Christmas crafts- I had an entire table set up with glitter, paper chains, glue and so on- he managed 15 minutes that time, then rampaged off around the house, spreading glitter... He was the type of boy who needed a lot of vigorous walks to relax. (and is still similar now- always at the gym, or running marathons 'for fun')

Ds2, on the other hand- loves all the crafts and baking and chilling. I have to force him out to Do Exercise.

Yes I saw a recipe today for kids that don't like veggies and it was making a sauce to hide the veggies but my kid doesn't like sauce 😂😂🙂😫😫

Yup had a thread on here about something and posters pointed out that doing clubs most day after school plus some extra work is too much and she’ll be tired. I thought about it and at the time I thought “oh yes, she might be getting tired” and no, thats not actually true, she doesn’t really get tired. She’s fallen asleep in the car precisely 3 times in her entire life. High energy person. Always been on the low end of sleep needs.

No to the picnic tea, it would just be awful (I tried this in an actual coffee shop, just odds and sods, plenty of food, fruit, nuts a sandwich and she complained to Dh that she hadn’t had lunch, so definitely expects a proper meal). Also made a mess in there too (I cleaned up after us)

No, she doesn’t “do” cleaning

No she doesn’t like colouring or imaginative play, loathes lego much to DH’s disappointment.

Also an eater of baked goods rather than a maker

No to a quiet day pottering at home, she needs a decent walk to be happy (i.e. not bouncing off the walls)

Trampoline is also in daily use over here. Straight after school likes to bounce around for a while.

It’s the conviction with which people declare that children need rest. It’s just not always true.

I feel the same way.

I see so many posts from people who clearly just have very different children to me. Sentences like "we just stayed at home and chilled" - my kids don't do that.

I have 5 and they are all so different and fit a mixture of what you've said. One of my daughters will indeed be buzzing and ready to have a filled afternoon as well as going out a ton on the weekend. Her twin is more into relaxing and doing homework and calling a friend or something. With the picnic tea, it depends how they're feeling with what gets eaten!! But I just have to be strict as one of them will only eat crisps if I do that.

My youngest is 6 so not a toddler but she has always helped me with the chores and still loves to while when I tried to ever get my 9 year old to help, she would very happily empty the dust pan on top of herself after sweeping anything up 😁

Your kids aren't odd because every single child is different.

@Ilovelurchers

I didn't know that about phonics and dyslexia. My child's primary school hated that she did not use phonics and learnt by word recognition. They refused to let her read school books at the level she was capable of.

My son comes home buzzing after nursery, I’d love for him to chill but he generally seems over stimulated.

Do love a picnic on the sofa though and he’s really helpful with chores, he genuinely will clean the bottom cupboards while I do the top and when I vacuum he takes out his mini Dyson to help! He also loves crafting and baking… so he’s nearly a proper MN child 🤣

My dcs are all grown up now.
What I absolutely wish I had done differently is not having people over as much.
Especially family.
I wish I hadn’t given a what they thought.
I wish I had not provided a 5 star food and drinks package.
What worked better for me was going out of the house. Anywhere where the dcs were happy. That could be the seaside, a theme park, or even just a park or wood.
We all enjoyed it and it made me feel so much better than being in the house cooking and cleaning.qzz xxx

Yep my kids were never tired. It's worked out well though. We get full value out of any day out.

Well all kids and families are different. Obviously.
Some will be tired after school, some will not. Some people will find snacks for tea easier, some will not.
Other people’s reality will be different to yours. 🤷🏼‍♀️

If my toddler comes home from pre-school regulated and relatively calm, I’m happy. He’s autistic so not a lot of imitation around here, but he seems interested in what I’m making to eat these days, so might try encourage him to put his own cheese on pizza. Everything is called ‘pizza’ ‘toast’ or ‘pasta’. If I don’t strap him into the high chair he is whizzing down the hallway with a mouth full of food.

No naps anymore and he takes an absolute age to go to sleep. We call him the Duracell bunny.

Long days out - kids bored, traffic terrible, expensive food. Far happier in the garden, local park, bike to local cafe, playing out with friends

My kids are absolutely knackered after school and basically need the weekend to recover. Each to their own

"Don't get a trampoline, it will be used t once for 5 mins"

Trampoline nearing end of life after being used every week, summer or winter, for past 7 years

It's not about not believing kids are different - it's just said with such authority. E.g. Your child will come home knackered when they start reception, or they will sleep through the night if you stop breastfeeding on demand. Or when you're out and about and someone says "Ooh, he'll need an early night!" when DS is tearing about! If anything these are the people who think their experience is universal.

I think we notice the posters doing different things to us more than those following a similar routine. I’ m the opposite to you OP in that I think MN is full of kids who do six instruments and afterschool / nursery activity everyday which my DD would have a melt down on preferring to chill with her toys. Whatever works though - there’s no ‘right’ way.

DS sea fishing with father: get dinghy into water, row out into middle of loch, get out rods, fish 10mins, “can we go home”.

School essay on “my favourite activities” “fishing with my father”

1. length of participation bears no relationship to amount of effort/preparation

2. children’s “memories” are entirely unpredictable. “Making memories” is hit and miss at best.

Some people on Mn are very low-energy, with low-energy children. Others aren’t. This isn’t wildly surprising, surely?

Oh god, craft.
5 mins set up
1 min crafting
1 hour cleaning up and bathing paint slathered child

DS likes the idea of baking. He wanders off halfway through meauring out the 4 ingredients... it's taken him to 11 to last as long as mixing!

Neither liked muddy puddles either.

Agree with you. And even as an adult the whole ‘flop and chill’ thing gives me the ick. Some of us relax via active relaxation. Going from work to sofa is recipe for a crap night’s sleep. Going via the pool/run helps clear my head, burn off steam and keep healthy. The kids are the same. And hate fussy food. Bring on a cottage pie!!!!