AIBU to think that “mundane” stuff is actually an important part of childhood?

I see where you're coming from OP. I coach a sport at a couple of kids' clubs so obviously I am not opposed to organised activities, but there is a happy medium. Quite a lot of the children I see are, in my opinion, overscheduled, some ridiculously so. I do wonder if they ever get any unstructured time to just play.
And I find it quite sad when one of the most frequently cited disadvantages on rural life v city life discussion threads is that if you live in the country you are goung to have to taxi your children to whatever they want to do, for years. Of course it's true, and it does cost money and time, but I loved my time in the car with my kids, especially when they were teens. We had a lot of our best conversations when we were one to one in the car driving to a hobby or back from a friend's house at night. There's a lot to be said for "ordinary" time spent together.
My children are adults now and when they're altogether at Christmas etc and the conversation comes round to childhood memories it's rarely big successes or expensive trips that get discussed but stuff like the time DD ate a whole jalepeno pepper for a dare or when DH accidently pulled the emergency call rather than the bathroom light in the middle of the night when we were allocated a disabled room in a Travelodge once. Or even more mundane stuff like baking with their late grandmother.
I think we sometimes need to remember that we don't make memories, memories make themselves.

Depends on how we tick
No way would i be happy home on a daily basis nor would it mean the house would be functioning or cleaned.
We get home after work & school have a chat & relax into doing what we do..
Winter here its easier to spend time together.
Summer go to the beach warm evenings
I loathe the thought of to many clubs and commitments and have a limit of 1-2 a week for sports or school activities.

I DO outsource loads of cleaning. I always have. It means my free time is free to be with the kids chilling. I did it (shock horror) even when I was a SAHM. Even when we were on a tight budget. It’s weird how much shame there is about paying for cleaning.

I don’t have a high-paying job and we still have a cleaner who also does ironing. I would cut back on other things to afford it if

Yeah I think there is a temptation to do more activities (so your child isn’t ’missing out’) the more hours parents work. In reality the more hours you work as parents, the essential family time is doing ‘not much’.

I work FT and my kids do one activity each a week plus going together to our place of worship. That’s it. I want slow mornings and time to bake, chat, watch TV together.

Good for you,but it isn't practical advice for anyone without a high paying job which is about 90%of us.

as someone who was in a swim squad at the age of 9 and playing county hockey in early secondary I really feel like I lost part of my childhood as I was rarely home after school as I always had training. I still remember the day I bunked off swimming, and went for a bike ride with my mates. Given I was never that talented it's a massive regret that I wasted my childhood swimming laps. I only go swimming on holiday now or occasionally in the summer.

It’s more about spending time with the children and actually being present, rather than the activity. Drudgery can be fun or at least engaging, and an opportunity to connect and chat about anything and everything. A billion clubs or theme parks won’t achieve that unless the parent is actively involved and talking to the child.

Ideally it’s a mix of both with an engaged, present parent where possible.

Most of us are just doing the best we can.

Exactly. Life’s too short to do housework.

My mum worked full time and then some and I still have memories of going shopping on Saturdays, paying for things with cheques, going on long bus rides to see grandparents, going to the car wash with dad, hours in the hairdressers with older relatives, spending all day playing out etc etc. Some of what people are doing are romanticising the world pre Sunday trading laws changing and the internet I think.

I work full time and we have trips to theme parks and the theatre and we have days where we do a bit of gardening or go for a walk. It doesn’t have to be either/or it can be and.

Outsource the mundane housework and continue to live life in a whirl of activities and fun? Thats what I do. I value my high earning job and love it enough that I would do it for free (don't tell my employer) and I am very grateful that means I can pay for a cleaner /housekeeper and for help with gardening and DIY and still have plenty left over for fun
Some of the hobbies I did developed the skills I needed to become successful at work

It depends on the child
I have one child who does a couple of activities a week. And even then sometimes chooses not to go
And one child who would do activities 24/7 and the only thing stopping her is my reluctance to spend my entire life as a taxi driver. 5 days a week is enough for me and I treasure our Friday evenings and Sundays where there aren't any clubs

Between school and clubs she crams in endless time climbing trees with friends or making up dance routines with them

What about when children grow up , how on earth are they going to cope with all the mundane tasks that make up modern life, if there lives have been a whirl of activities and fun?

What about when children grow up , how on earth are they going to cope with all the mundane tasks that make up modern life, if there lives have been a whirl of activities and fun?

I found my old busy book from primary a while back. In it I described my perfect day. I assumed when I saw the title it would be a trip to the zoo or the beach or something. But my perfect day when I was about 8 years old was going to a music lesson on a Saturday with my dad in the morning (we were learning the organ together) and then going to the local market in the afternoon with my mum to choose fabric for clothes she was making me. It wasn't about the activities. It was about the time I got to spend with them.

In my local FB mother’s group, every rainy day will see panicked posts from mums asking where they can take their toddlers because they will climb the walls if they can’t go to the park. And I wonder how we got to a point where we can’t spend a single day with our own children without an activity. And then I look at teenagers and young adults and it feels like there’s an epidemic of anxiety and insecurity. Maybe filling every day with activity isn’t good for them. Perhaps the slower pace of unstructured family life is more important than we give it credit for. And possibly parents being around for the mundane rather than just snatched highlights to ‘make memories’ gives kids a secure platform to launch from without the pressure of needing to perform just so when mum and dad are paying attention.

Yes probably. It is the mundane, daily life that builds the foundations for who the child will become as an adult I think. A feeling of safety & security from a peaceful childhood. But in terms of memories, I don’t remember any of the walks to school or the quiet afternoons or the low key things, really if I’m honest. The childhood highlight reel in my mind for my own childhood is the holidays spent on the beach abroad, big birthday parties, performing in shows with my drama club, team sport tournaments, travelling to the other side of Europe by train. The bigger stuff (that probably took a lot of effort from the parents).

Well, lovely, but do your children know how to actually entertain themselves? If you turfed them out in to the garden to just play what would they do?

Being bored and knowing how to cope with that is no bad thing.

I remember a friend telling me when I had my first child that although everyone says quality time is better than quantity time, you can't actually plan quality time becuase it happens randomly during quantity time. It always stuck with me and reminded me to spend all the time I possibly could with them while they were young. How much time that actually is will vary for everyone.

I completely agree with you OP. I’ve always said this too.

They’ll remember more than you think. I have so so many wonderful wonderful memories of doing the ‘mundane’ things with my Grandad. I don’t have any memories of anything like this with my parents.

Inspiring

I'm with you OP. I think it's really important to have unscheduled time, to unwind, be bored, get creative etc.

Avoiding the conflict is not healthy. They should learn to negotiate differences and live well together. What a shame those siblings are disconnected.