Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

How many days of the week do you or your DC have "commitments"?

128 replies

whereiscaroline · 24/11/2021 07:00

I'm not talking about school or work but other commitments - hobbies/sports clubs.

I'm feeling frazzled at the moment despite my one DC being a teenager and wondering if it's due to too many commitments.

At the moment one or the other of us has a club every day of the week except Monday and Thursday. It feels too much but I'm not sure if I'm being a bit pathetic!

OP posts:
StarCourt · 24/11/2021 07:25

I wish I could get DD to take up some commitments

RandomUsernameHere · 24/11/2021 07:25

Tuesdays they both do a club but at school, so nice and easy as I just collect them later. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays they do sports outside of school that I need to drive them to. So 4 days a week that I'm required to drive them.

Manteo · 24/11/2021 07:26

I have one 7 years old, I work nearly full time so she goes to GPs twice a week after school, they take her to a club on one of those days, the other day I take her to one after picking her up. One day at after school club. The other 2 days I can pick her up and I take her to clubs. Another club Saturday morning.

So 6 over 5 days. If you count each different dance lesson as a separate thing.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Families
FloconDeNeige · 24/11/2021 07:27

On the plus side, starting them young at the sports will help them get good, I hope. They started skiing at 2 and 3 years old and are already so confident (we live in a ski resort). DH learned aged 3 and I learned aged 17. The gap between us as adults will never be closed.

I think as long as they enjoy it and want to go (and you as parents can keep up with it), then it’s all good!

StEval · 24/11/2021 07:27

I deliberately kept mine to 2 activities per week.
Brownies/ cubs and one sporty hobby.
Utterly ridiculous the amount of activities that some DC do , they need time to just unwind and play.
I was more concerned with protecting their MH and no they didnt end up drinking in the park 🙄
Really noticable during GCSEs as those over committed were very stressed and didnt cope well.
Wont be a popular opinion but 🤷‍♀️

DaisyWaldron · 24/11/2021 07:29

While DD does quite a lot of activities, she can walk or cycle to all of them, so they don't take up anyone else's time other than hers.

rumblypumbly · 24/11/2021 07:33

Friday and Sunday without anything here. Ds is 8 and loves all his clubs/activities. He does have 2 clubs on a Monday night though. So its 6 things a week he does. We used to have 1 thing for ds4 on a Friday but had to stop it as of last week due to a health diagnosis that we are waiting on a referral for, so it was previously only a Sunday without anything! Its chaos but we love it x

Longdistance · 24/11/2021 07:37

My dds have lunch time and after school clubs at school. Both did attend Girl Guides, but eldest gave up recently as girls weren’t talking to her and she’d had enough.
I couldn’t spend my weekend getting dds to go to club after club. We do fun stuff as a family at the weekend. Homework is daily on a weekday.

Manteo · 24/11/2021 07:45

I wondered how long it would be until the 'but they neeeeed downtime' posts started Grin

My DD, despite doing 6 things a week still manages to spend far more than the recommended time on Netflix/Minecraft, plays with cousins/friends most weekends, gets her homework done and we read to each other every night.

Camomila · 24/11/2021 07:45

DS1 afterschool club 3 days a week (but that's childcare rather than a hobby)
DS1 dodgeball one afternoon a week
Sundays church.

I want to get both DC swimming but the spaces are all booked up after Covid.

CeeceeBloomingdale · 24/11/2021 07:49

None now they are tweens and teens but when they were younger maximum two each. I work shifts so that was the most we could manage. They like having down time too.

StEval · 24/11/2021 07:50

wondered how long it would be until the 'but they neeeeed downtime' posts started

Yes we have no issues with child MH in the UK do we Hmm

reluctantbrit · 24/11/2021 07:53

5 nights a week plus Saturday morning. It's a lot on paper but the time itself is quite short and two are late in the evening so all school work and dinner are done.

I was prepared to cut down but they give DD an outlet from school she needs.

Manteo · 24/11/2021 08:06

@StEval

wondered how long it would be until the 'but they neeeeed downtime' posts started

Yes we have no issues with child MH in the UK do we Hmm

Yes we do, especially with young people, I thought exercise, time outdoors and a creative outlet as well as plenty of downtime would help with this? And the child obesity problem. Most kids downtime seems to consist of screens which is surely not great for mental health?
user1471554720 · 24/11/2021 08:06

How do you get housework done? Esp deep cleaning, decluttering?

My 2 dcs do one sport which has training 3 eves a week, then a match away on Sat or Sun. This lightens off a bit from Nov to Jan. I go food shopping/getting bits for school etc one weekend morning. Both work fulltime. I take a day off every few weeks, jjust to take a walk in daylight, look round shops, meet a friend.

I usually have a small amount of free time at weekends so I use this for washing windows, cleaning, things I can't do on a winter's eve. I do short bursts, but it is a scramble to do longer deep cleaning, decluttering. There is little downtime on weekday eves especially in the summer.

StEval · 24/11/2021 08:17

Yes we do, especially with young people, I thought exercise, time outdoors and a creative outlet as well as plenty of downtime would help with this? And the child obesity problem. Most kids downtime seems to consist of screens which is surely not great for mental health?
When mine were that age screens were only just coming in, so cant comment on that as mine didnt sit in front of screens all day.
Im talking about the excessive scheduling ( that was going on at that time)
Everything is scheduled which isnt great for them.
I have the experience of seeing these DC breakdown during GCSEs as they are over committed and stressed by it all.

SallyWD · 24/11/2021 08:19

4 days a week at the moment. I share the lifts with my husband and with other parents which helps a lot. It can be a bit exhausting!

DaisyWaldron · 24/11/2021 08:21

I do housework in the mornings, using my tweaked version of the organised mum routine. My weekend is Sunday-Monday, so Mondays are free to get longer things done. And my kids are in secondary school, and are now basically independent in terms of transport, so their activities only affect my time if they need a parent to come along to a game or exhibition or performance or for occasional trips away.

reluctantbrit · 24/11/2021 08:24

@StEval

I deliberately kept mine to 2 activities per week. Brownies/ cubs and one sporty hobby. Utterly ridiculous the amount of activities that some DC do , they need time to just unwind and play. I was more concerned with protecting their MH and no they didnt end up drinking in the park 🙄 Really noticable during GCSEs as those over committed were very stressed and didnt cope well. Wont be a popular opinion but 🤷‍♀️
It all depends. DD is inY10 and I was concerned about time for revision but a creative hobby, sport and Scout/Explorers give her so much de-stress opportunity, she actually forgets her school stress.

I found in younger years when lots of activiteis were at 4/5pm she was a lot more stressed (and me trying to get her from A to B on time) and we cut things down to give her time to breath. But with a teen she relaxes in the evening with reading and Netflix.

InTheLabyrinth · 24/11/2021 08:33

Monday: DS1 has 2 things
Thurs: DS1 and DS2 have one thing each
Fri:DS1
Sun:DS2

DS1 has recently dropped 3 things. It's made life much smoother.

PhoboPhobia · 24/11/2021 08:33

I think you just have to do what works for your family. If your DCs do clubs all the time but enjoy all of them, they’ll be fine if you can accommodate it.

I danced as a kid and for a few years it took up 4 nights a week and some whole weekends. I also did another activity that filled in the gaps. For me it was great, I had loads of dance friends, we had downtime between lessons/competitions etc.

My own DCs have done very little. DD played football and danced a bit and did a fair few after school clubs. DS has never stuck at anything for more than a few weeks and hated sports so once he started senior school he didn’t do anything.

See what works for you and do that. My mantra was always that if they didn’t enjoy it they could stop anytime.

Gufo · 24/11/2021 08:36

My DC each have 2 or 3 days with nothing on. Some of their clubs are straight after school so not too demanding for them (or for the parent taxi).

inigomontoyahwillcox · 24/11/2021 08:38

13 YO DD has 3 extracurricular commitments, but 2 are on one afternoon/evening, so it only takes up 2 days.

Crumblinginside · 24/11/2021 08:40

Only Sunday morning.
Honestly I feel its enough with homework etc.
We have a big garden and they run about
From March on they have football x 3 per week but are in the same age category so it's one run.

anon12345678901 · 24/11/2021 08:45

@StEval

wondered how long it would be until the 'but they neeeeed downtime' posts started

Yes we have no issues with child MH in the UK do we Hmm

My child has worse mental health when his clubs shut due to Covid.

Now they're back on he's his usual happy self.

OP everyday here, they vary from directly after school to early evening so he has time in between to chill. Homework always gets done. It's more a juggling act for me as a lone parent Grin

Swipe left for the next trending thread