Families that don't do anything with children

I literally am the other end of the scale and CAN'T function indoors. I don't know how to entertain myself or kids indoors at all. Traditionally I've had to be put off the house for at least half the day. And no, not spending money..... Just walking, visiting parks, sitting in different spaces even.....
I always imagine that people who stay home have the sort of kids who play with toys or lego or do crafts and stuff. My kids just havnt been interested in that.

Aw diddums. Can you not use those all-knowing psychic powers of yours to get this weeks lottery numbers so you can move?

There is no lift, my poor kids don’t see the light of day poor me

Get the lift fixed then

Can get out from my 75th floor flat unfortunately

Maybe go do some gardening? Its therapeutic you know 😉

Oooh really got to you haven’t I. Maybe go on that bike ride chill yourself out

It’s a shame this thread has descended into mindless insults as it is quite an interesting discussion.

I think we all know in our bones that leaving children to fester in front of the TV or on social media instead of taking them out for exercise or culturally enriching activities in the school holidays is lazy, sub-optimal parenting (health-related exceptions aside).

No one is saying every single day of the holidays must be filled with back-to-back activities nor that one must spend a fortune. This is simply about getting them out of the house and out and about engaging with the world.

But this is MN so of course there are reams and reams of obtuse nonsense.

My 7 year old (suspected ADHD) will complain all day if we do anything that doesn’t directly benefit him. We still take him but it really spoils the day.

for example, we live next to the airport and it was the air show this weekend so we took them to watch the Red Arrows take off. We were there 15-20 minutes (let him take his scooter with him) and he just complained how he didn’t like planes. Sucks the fun out of everything.

And coming on here being foul mouthed and personally insulting people (to the point you've had comments removed) tells everyone what kind of person you are. I bet your kids love being around you. I wouldn't be surprised if they go no contact when they're old enough.

Trying to over explain your life tells me it’s absolute bull

It’s hard work getting out and about, they can’t be bothered and should never have had children in the first place.

If a young child is being kept home with no activities outside the home over the whole summer, then there are a whole lot of other problems in that family. The summer is then just a snapshot of wider issues.

Everyone else just muddles along. From the performative over-schedulers to the ‘boredom leads to creativity’ extremes, with most people reaching a reasonable balance in between.

Oh and @cha04 I've just spent a fortune decorating my house to make it nice for my children, not that its any of your business, and we are fortunate enough to have a nice garden they can play in, making mud pies, bug hotels, and plant things. We have plenty of fun without having to leave the home every day. Some people just lack the imagination to be able to do things without it being some organised activity outside of the home. And some of us have compassion and empathy for those who don't have access to the things we do. Might be something for you to work on.

I was thinking the same ….

but gives people a good excuse to gloat on their better parenting skills

Oh yes Ms Foul-Mouthed Psychic, I'm sure you know all the ins and outs of my life don't you? I bet you win the lottery every week with your great insight and inside knowledge, Ms All Knowing 😆

There's a big difference between just leaving your kid in their bedroom staring at their phone for six weeks, and being mostly at home but doing fun stuff.

We weren't very well off when I was a kid - we weren't poor but we didn't have access to a car in the holidays (we had one but my dad needed it to get to work). We lived in a small town that was actually very near London, but going into London wasn't really affordable on any regular basis and there certainly wasn't much opportunity for 'new experiences' in/near our home town. Once we'd been for a walk, gone to the library and been to the park (which was only really suitable for very young kids) that was it really. So we were mostly at home.

However, I have so many happy memories of doing really fun things at home. Loads of really creative art and craft things involving glue, scissors and random crap from the house. Playing in the garden and making tents with old sheets. Cooking/baking. Helping my mum with the gardening. Setting up massively elaborate games with Sindy and Action Man, which entailed me and my brother rigging up a zip wire for them in the garden with a bit of string tied to the branch of a tree. Playing board games. Teaching the dog to do tricks for bits of cheese. Making a book all about monsters I'd invented. Devising an entire football tournament structure with named players for every team and playing the whole thing out with Subbuteo. Playing with the garden hose. And yes, I'm sure we did plenty of lying around watching weird summer holiday telly as well. But we weren't bored and we certainly weren't lacking in stimulation or experiences.

Agree. Adding:
Luck you were born into a family that could afford to raise you
Luck you had engaged supportive parents or at least one adult that was a protective factor for you.
Luck you don't have a disability or health condition that although you can drive makes achieving it difficult/impossible/too expensive
Luck that you were sufficiently educated
Luck you have intelligence enough to get to earn enough to run a car.
Luck you can live in a decent area.

Yes some things take hard work but being able to work hard is luck too . (Mental/physical health, resilience born from a good upbringing)

Oh I know. Funny how despite all this intelligence and cultural capital and experience some posters really, really can’t imagine why something might not be possible. Yes, even a holiday in the UK.

Sorry you don't line being called out for telling porky pies

Cottages are really expensive in school holidays. The cheap ones are miles from a beach.
Camping needs equipment and ability to get there. Cars are expensive to run. Trains and coaches cost money.

You can't take your kids out for a cheap holiday in term time any longer.

Holidays are out of reach of the bottom decile of income.

You can't go on holiday for £120 that a previous poster managed to save up.

Yes actually. Ivory tower you have absolutely no idea. Sorry you don’t like being called out for being a lazy parent

Because some people don’t give a shit and have no interests other than sitting at home, going to the pub, taking drugs and drinking.

People like that have plenty of kids. They are shit parents.

Also there are parents who are good parents, provide for their kids and love their kids dearly but are not into walking or national trust properties or other such enriching activities. They like visiting their families. They watch a lot of telly and are on their phones. Kids are the same. Kids may play out a lot.

You are equating middle class activities with being a good parent which is not always the case.

Exactly. How many times have we asked our school aged children what they did at school that day, and got the answer "nothing" or "I don't know"? Children do this, it doesn't mean they literally did nothing!