Is it ok to have lots of days in the house with kids?

[shoppinisttimeagain]

I know it's a daft question but I feel kinda bad that we haven't really done much over the summer. We haven't had an actual holiday as such but had a few days out. My kids seem happy being in the house and being off school in itself is great (they say)

I just feel so guilty

Totally fine. My kids love a home day. They build complicated Lego worlds while listening to audio books. It won't kill kids to experience boredom and come up with their own solutions to that boredom.

Overscheduling every day isn't doing kids any favours.

It’s healthy for children not to be taken on an outing every day. Playing with toys, coloring, board games, playing in your garden or whatever space you have nearby, helping with chores, reading, and even playing video games or watching some YouTube are all perfectly wonderful ways to spend a day.

@Beachbreak2411 how can circus school, swimming and cinema not be a “day out”. That’s a day out in my world.
(Also circus school sounds cool)

Some of my best childhood memories were days at home with my younger sister, sat with a picnic in the garden playing Monopoly, with friends from next door and down the road.

I'm 37 weeks pregnant with 2 & 3 yo. We do alot of lazy days at the moment.

I do feel bad, because I'd love to take them out so they can whinge about wanting to go home for hours. Once they start getting abit much they go in the garden for an hour 🤣

My DS would gladly never ever leave the house again. He is very much Team Crisps and YouTube. I do start feeling bonkers after a day of pottering at home-enjoy it at the time, but then by the evening am itching to go for a walk, and will invent some sort of mad errand, like buying marshmallows at 9pm.

@AlfietheSchnauzer Best get your kids out of the underground bunker.

I agree but I also think getting out of the house to the shops/ park/ for a walk daily is essential too.

Me and my DM played it with real tennis rackets! We had balls explode and string snap on more than one occasion! 😂

DDs very, very rarely have a full day without leaving the house. I find they start arguing with each other or get bored and whine for screen time if we're inside all day. I think the odd duvet day is fine but it's a rarity for us.

It doesn't have to be that or a trip to Disneyland though. Today has been a quiet day for us, we went and did the food shop and bought a hot chocolate at the supermarket cafe and this afternoon they've been colouring and helped me put away washing. Sometimes we'll just nip to the library in the morning and then spend the afternoon reading, or go to the park and do some baking. We certainly can't afford to be spending money on day trips constantly over the school holidays but it doesn't mean they have to stay at home.

I am longing for better weather though so we can spend an afternoon in the garden/fill the paddling pool!

Rarely are people talking about ONE day out of 6 weeks where kids are stuck at home. There was a thread a few days ago where many admitted that their children didn’t leave the house for days on end during the holidays.

We never got taken anywhere like theme parks as children but we definitely left the house every day for a walk / to go to the park / go to the library (all free activities).

That's because you have a toddler let's talk again when you have teenagers

Of course it's fine. Mine have had days of literally just playing or on tablets. I've done nothing with them. They've also had days out or to the park.

I refuse to feel guilty about tv time etc.

Of course it’s absolutely fine

to not have to rush about to just be is good
they should be able to entertain themselves

I think it is about balance. It's fine to have some vegging days. As long as they are getting other days when they at least do a walk or a playground or a swim or something.

Dss came back from a week at his mum's and they hadn't left the house once just watched TV all day for a week and he was ricocheting off the walls when he got to us, he was so excited to just get out for a dog walk. That's not fair for an active healthy tween who almost certainly has ADHD.

I'm an outdoors person and my little one also loves being outdoors on walks or somewhere she can people watch. I do love odd days at home relaxing though especially when it's raining. I don't think there's anything wrong with having days indoors but admittedly I'd lose my mind if I couldn't at least pop out somewhere even if just for an hour Max. Even just to the shop or a quick walk around where I live but I get itchy feet too easily and I hope my girl grows up wanting to be outside most of the time too. I suppose it's all about balance!

It's fine. Spent the summer holidays however you want.

I'd lose my mind, but it's DS's greatest ambition to spend two days on the trot in his PJs. I personally feel depressed if I don't go out all day, and now it gives me lockdown flashbacks too, but if you can honestly say your kids are happy and not having their mood affected by it, then I think it's fine. My DS is OK with a day in; DD is like me and gets ratty.
We do v few organised or paid for activities though. Playground or park or friends over or friends' houses, or now that we're in Ireland with my family for a few weeks, to the beach for a frigid swim in the rain. We also went to the supermarket today. And they spent ages on the trampoline in the garden. Good day all round! Tomorrow will be the same only I'll go for a run instead of us all going to the supermarket.

It’s ok if your children are happy and you are happy. Children need some down time like adults do.
A lot of people can’t afford days out and have to stay home ☹️

The playground/walks are free though. It doesn't have to be big fancy trips out.

All we do are days out so I feel like we could probably do with a YouTube and crisps day! Sounds like heaven 😂

Honestly, do not worry. We're only a couple of weeks into the holiday so you have plenty of time to do days out.
Sit down together and come up with some ideas for inside and outside. Right then on bits of paper and put in a jar. Every day/every other day, pick something from the jar and do what it says for the day

Mine prefer staying at home, we've had a few brief trips to the local park to take the dog for a walk and find a couple of days looking for geocaches and pokemon go hunting. Weather has been too crap really to do much of anything really. We'll maybe have the odd couple of big days out. This year we have booked a holiday abroad though but previous years we've not done much all summer, mine have never complained, they like it, they get to chill out and recharge

Exactly this!

It’s only been a week!

Kids have way too much sensory overload these days which is why there are so many more MH issues like anxiety.

Letting your kids just chill out and do what they want to do is exactly what they need.

It's fine to just slow the pace right down but everyone benefits from daily exercise and a dose of nature.
It's also good to keep mentally stimulated and not spend most of the day sedentary.