Does anyone have weekends like this anymore?

What Christmas outings do you have planned? I think it’s normal to have home-based weekends between the busier ones (though it sounds like you did a fair bit this weekend, just at home). The bit that stuck out to me was time to yourself watching films during the day (!) which would be a rarity for me. But hopefully something to look forward to with older children!

Your weekend sounds heavenly.

When I’m out and about on holiday weekends I see many exhausted children having meltdowns as they’re being rushed from one must-do attraction to the next. Your weekend sounds like what those parents should aspire to.

I felt the same

Yeah they do. They have weekends a lot less cosy and homely as yours sounds. Yours sounds wonderful. But those wonderful moments won't make social media. Did you post those homely loving moments?

Social media is snip bits of the most interesting parts of any person's life. Some get obsessed and live for insta worthy moments and rarely enjoy the experiences they are having as they are too busy posing for photos. Not the case of all. But most people will only be showing life's best bits. You won't see the moments like yours this weekend on there, but many will aspire to be having those same moments themselves

Reading this post I remember so fondly the slow but full weekends when I was a kid. I would give anything to have one more of those.
Now with my 5mo DD asleep in her crib next to me I got a bit emotional thinking about weekends like this with her to come. Can't bloody wait.

Im childfree so my weekends are different. I run a home business so Saturday is my Tesco delivery day and Royal Mail pickup for my parcels. Sunday is my special day for relaxing. I dont answer the door or phone or even emails. I do exactly what I want to do all day.

Back when I lived with my parents saturday was the day for shopping and sunday for visiting - or for being visited. Most shops were closed. As kids we often did colouring reading or something like knitting in the evening. We played family games at christmas.

We did a Christmas film, kids gymnastics club, dog walks, spaghetti bol, read some new story books, a carol concert at a church.. I think it’s fine and normal!!! I see the OTT stuff on instagram etc and think Christ they must be exhausted planning it all and then filming the whole thing and uploading it etc. It’s way more staged than it all looks.

It sounds like a lovely weekend to me OP. Your DD will have precious memories of such times. There is absolutely no need to be racing from one event to another all the time and I feel sorry for those who can't find enjoyment in relaxation.

Plenty of weekends like that. But I wouldn't post on Instagram about a quiet weekend. I would however post about Lapland or some special treat. So your idea is a bit skewed if you think Instagram is about posting about every day life.

This is the equivalent of teenage girls thinking women look like the models they see on Instagram/cover of a magazine when we were young.

It’s a completely normal and average weekend. We live like this all the time, it’s just a normal life. I couldn’t care less what other people’s diaries are booked up with.

That sounds like a great weekend. I agree people seem to feel they need to go to events & do big stuff which they post online.

However DD would have been fine with this sort of weekend but we did have to keep DS ‘busy’ when he was little. So we couldn’t just chill. We rarely did paid for activities though. But he would never have sat for more than 10 mins colouring or doing playdoh. It was exhausting!

Right! What is wrong with them?!

Why does it matter if I chose to have four kids? Does that mean I'm not allowed to find it difficult or feel shit when I see people with 1 child having these lovely, and seemingly fairly easy, weekends with crafts and baking and days out etc when my own life is never ever like that? It seems to be a common theme that it's only people with 1 or 2 children who are ever allowed to complain about things being hard. If someone with 3 or 4 do the exact same thing they always, always get "Well you chose to have all those kids!" 🙄

And yes it is loud. As for lovely and fun...not so much. Perhaps it's their ages as they're all very young but right now no.

It would take me a whole day to make a lasagne alone 😅

Your weekend sounds absolutely delightful. I wish I had the headspace and energy to do more of the type of thing you describe doing yourself. As somebody who often goes to places that provide activities or outings, I do so because I don’t have the mental energy to do these things myself or creative at home. I wish I did. I know it’s better for my children, less superficial and would be the type of thing they look back at with fondness when older but I simply don’t have the capacity for it. I feel like a lazy parent when seeing the people who post things like you describe doing. I think each has their own merit and there is nothing wrong with you’re doing with your child.

Sounds like a normal weekend to me too, ours was similar (minus a dog!) Social media is the issue here.

Seriously mn strikes again.
OP posts a bit worried that maybe she’s not parenting right, not doing enough fancy outing stuff.
Op gets accused of humble bragging, being perfect, having it easy because she’s “only” got one child, asked if she does all the cooking (as if that’s a bad thing).

MN can be a wonderful source of support.
But it can also (more and more often nowadays) just seem like a crowd of mean bitchy girls in the playground.
Your weekend sounds lovely OP.

I'm certain my lifestyle would be deemed 'boring' by many, but who cares? It works for me. I wouldn't like their way of life any more than they'd like mine. That's okay. I had a laid-back childhood and prefer a calm lifestyle as an adult, too. There's nothing wrong with your way of doing things. Just don't pay too much attention to social media.

When children are young, especially, it's good for them to balance time with friends and out doing things with time at home engaging in activities with parents or on their own. Kids need to be able to entertain themselves, at some point. There's a lot of thinking, learning, and discovery that can happen during slow 'down time'.

I think social media really amplifies what we don't have. Ive had a mix ofbactivities with the children this weekend including a trip that looked exciting for Instagram and also some stuff at home which was like what you describe.
However, I looked on there earlier and felt a twang of envy of my friends who are having girls night outs with women they are closer to than me. I don't have the most happening social life and I find that hard sometimes . This has been a timely reminder for me to get off the social for a bit and focus on what's really happening.

We don't go near the shops at Christmas. Walking dogs is the most exercise that has occurred this weekend. It's been wet and windy.

I took my kids on lots of trips when they were that age. Pretty much every weekend we’d go somewhere. They’re boys, and they were outdoorsy and energetic. They didn’t like colouring, crafts or cooking. And they couldn’t sit through a whole film. Every now and then I think “let’s have a nice chilled day at home”, but inevitably by mid morning the house was destroyed after a nerf gun battle, dens made out of up-ended settees, trains and cars all over the floor. It was easier for me to take them to the Sealife Centre or a farm park or whatever. Nothing to do with social media. I don’t have Instagram , no idea how to use it.