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Original poster

Weekends are for “family time”

119 replies

HarrietHairbrush · 21/05/2021 17:37

I have read this a couple of times in the last couple of days on here.
What do you all do as a family at the weekend?

OP posts:
AtoZed · 21/05/2021 18:58

As a child, if I wasn't playing in the girls’ brigade band at fetes, fairs, church parades you name it, we were there Hmm we were shoved in the back of the transit van and taken to National Trust properties.

I just wanted to read or visit friends. If I had time to read I obviously had too much time on my hands so I could do some washing up/ironing etc.

I loathed weekends.

My DD played out with friends or had friends over.

tiredanddangerous · 21/05/2021 19:08

Family time is definitely getting harder as they're getting older. The 13 year old isn't at all interested and the 11 year old is going the same way.

MyGoMargot · 21/05/2021 19:13

Don’t really have it these days.

Everyone has their own schedule... teens, football, shift work

It’s rare the 5 of us are in together for a whole day at a weekend. That said, we do try and have a meal a day together. And in the week, the expectation is that everyone eats dinner together at the table. No screens. Whether it ends in some sort of barney or not varies from day to day... 😬

DDIJ · 21/05/2021 19:14

This reply has been withdrawn

Message from MNHQ: This post has been withdrawn

Kentuki · 21/05/2021 19:15

Do a lot of running back and forth to kids activities.

We also have movie night on a Saturday and try to have a special meal on a Sunday, a roast or we go out.

We do quite often see friends tho, BBQs or meals out on a Sunday, perhaps with a walk. Occasionally one of us goes out Saturday night although I think we mainly do so during the week (trying to remember! This is all pre Covid!)

We tend to schedule a lot in on weekends, trying to cut back on that but now there is a lot of pent up need to see people!

This weekend, we watch Wandavision on Fridays with eldest then he goes to bed. Tomorrow eldest has a club until 12, then my family is coming over to stay, we are out for dinner then will have a film in the evening. Sunday morning we have rugby and football, and then going to a BBQ at a friends with lots of families and kids.

Next weekend we have the same activities, Saturday we are at a friends house for the afternoon, BH Monday we have the in laws here.

They are quite typical as to what we do.

JaninaDuszejko · 21/05/2021 19:17

Weekends are sports activities for the DC, very jealous of these people who just have to worry about their DH disappearing off for their hobby, DH and I are just taxi drivers all weekend. The odd days DD1 isn't playing football we drag all the kids out to a stately home and bribe them with homebakes.

TaylorStan · 21/05/2021 19:23

We tend to spend one day doing things together and then on the other one of us gets the day to ourselves to see friends, go shopping, whatever. And we alternate who has that day each week.

Sceptre86 · 21/05/2021 19:41

I work Saturday mornings and then we will head over to see mil or have her over at ours. If she is busy we tend to go to the park, museum or shopping etc. On a Sunday we would normally do soft play after breakfast and then home for lunch and then dh or I would prep a special meal for Sunday dinner. We would often watch film or occasionally go to the cinema or crazy golf. Family time in our house is time spent together so you don't go swanning off on your own for the whole day.

TheMoth · 21/05/2021 19:50

My mum worked most weekends when we were kids. Weekends were: watching telly until grandstand came on, then play our see who was playing out. Lots of boring, grey weekends.

Now: work all week, so barely see the kids. Currently working most of the weekend too, but we try and do an enforced family activity like a walk or bike ride. It's hard in summer though, cos the place is full of tourists and you can't go anywhere decent cos the roads are clogged. Family tea on Sunday.

WhySoSensitive · 21/05/2021 19:54

Sunday is my husbands only day off so we like to do something all together. Doesn’t matter what it is or how long it takes.
My best memories as a child were family days out so I’m obviously the opposite to PP and appreciated family time!!

IfNot · 21/05/2021 19:57

I think Family Time was invented in about 1998? We definitely did have it when I was a kid. Occasionally we would all go to the pub on a Sunday afternoon, one where they had a climbing frame. Or drive out in to the Dales. Other than that my parents shopped/ cooked etc and we played out. I HATED the expression Family Time as a lone patent with young DC as it just meant I felt I couldn't call anyone up as they might be having it. I would invite child free friends round though.
Now with teens I just do my own thing at the weekend, with the occasional lift for someone.

HaggisTheGreat · 21/05/2021 20:01

I’m always surprised by how often people on mumsnet talk about weekend “family time” - eg single parents lamenting that they can’t see their friends. For us, weekends are for socialising as it’s hard to fit in during the week with work/school/clubs. That could be playdates, could be whole family seeing friends/family, could be me or DH doing stuff with our friends. Usually a mix over the course of a weekend. Some time together too, sure, but not as some kind of specific aim.

Womencanlift · 21/05/2021 20:08

It is such a twee phrase that I have never heard been used outside of MN. Absolutely agree that the weekends, for those who don’t work, is a time to spend with family but it is also time to spend with friends or even doing your own thing.

I do Hmm at the posters on threads who get wound up when people they know suggest doing something at the weekend and it’s all how dare they suggest then, that is interrupting our family time

Diddumz · 21/05/2021 20:09

I love family time!

During the week, we share the cooking and make delicious meals.

We care for our pets.

Every day, there is a family walk with our two dogs.

We live in the countryside, so we see the seasons changing. We gather berries and make crumbles and pies.

We play boardgames and watch movies.

m0therofdragons · 21/05/2021 20:11

Weekend family time can be going out but generally it’s staying in pjs late in the day and not bothering with make up, being lazy and not worrying about what my family think.

LolaSmiles · 21/05/2021 20:11

We stay home, walk the dogs, go to the park and generally live a fairly typical life with children.

There's something slightly twee about rebranding a bog standard family life as "family time". When I read it I regularly imagine someone doing a head tilt and/or tinkly laugh with it as if they're super wholesome.

Disclaimer, I feel the same way about doing hobbies or chilling on the sofa being branded as "self care". This probably makes me a grump

MoonshineTuttiFrutti · 21/05/2021 20:33

We live in the countryside, so we see the seasons changing. We gather berries and make crumbles and pies.

Confused
Waxonwaxoff0 · 21/05/2021 20:34

Yeah, I'm divorced and it's my ex's weekend this weekend. I'm going out tomorrow drinking with my friends.

Love my weekends with DS, but also love my weekends where I can just be "Wax" and not "Mum".

KarmaNoMore · 21/05/2021 20:44

I grew up in the seventies and we had family time, we just didn’t call it that. My parents used to get us all in the car on Sundays and headed for a picnic or to a restaurant. The restaurant visits included food and talking for hours about different things (my dad was always good at organising debates out of nothing Grin). The picnics were always with extended family or old friends of them, who had kids the same age as us, happiest time of my life!.

Obviously all the family magic evaporated during our teen years but it returned with a vengeance in our 20s.

sundayistheday · 21/05/2021 20:45

Well my kids watch a fair bit of telly, play games, eat snacks whilst I turn over their school games kit and uniforms, do the ironing and try and clean oh and cook ... dog walking on a Sunday and board games/drawing/ reading if we're feeling ambitious.

KarmaNoMore · 21/05/2021 20:48

I’m divorced and when DS was little, we split the time so we all could enjoy the weekend: one day/night to do something DS enjoyed, one for something I enjoyed and one to meet with another set of parent and child so he could play with other children and I and their mums had a chance to catch-up while the kids played.

ZenNudist · 21/05/2021 20:48

Argue

CurlsandCurves · 21/05/2021 20:50

DH and I both work Saturday usually. But Saturday night is takeaway and tv night for us all. Our kids are older and spend the day at home or out with friends.

Sunday’s vary. Sometimes we go out, sometimes we do nothing at all, other times DH and I crack on with diy projects around the house, and we attempt to get the kids involved 😆. Then Sunday dinner or a family meal together.

KarmaNoMore · 21/05/2021 20:52

... forgot to mention what we do, at least one day of the weekend has to be spent away at the coast, the hills or having a day city break. DS being a teen much prefers to see his friends/Xbox these days but that’s life, he may come back one day.

marinaspecies · 21/05/2021 20:52

We live in London with one toddler so weekends get very busy with days out - all the attractions have to be pre-booked weeks in advance so we've lined up lots of events over the summer. Museums, galleries, family concerts, family theatre, soft play, zoos, royal palaces, restaurants, family raves, festivals, tourist attractions, a couple of UK short breaks. Really looking forward to it after months of lockdown. Even in lockdown we had days out, to country parks, gardens, nature reserves, playgrounds etc.

We don't really have close friends here and DH works Mon-Fri so weekends are a time to visit all the places we want to go. DD really loves our days out, I take her out during the week but she loves it when we go out with DH as well.