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Does anyone else feel too exhausted to do anything at weekends?

47 replies

Daisyfield90 · 03/10/2026 09:31

Me and dh work FT M-F. We run the house keeping it clean/tidying, cook from scratch most nights for us and x2 DC. Ferry DC around in the week. School runs, dc get cooked/hot breakfast if they want it (they are not cereal or toast fans), dc appts - dentist/haircuts/opticians (just had a run of that lot).
Come the weekend we are exhausted and our weekends are spent doing nothing.dc just want to chill. Me and dh go no where, do nothing. It feels like a waste of our weekend.

Anyone else resonate?

OP posts:
TiredShadows · 03/10/2026 12:11

Yes, I've been there. Sometimes I do plan a busy weekend depending on events going on locally, but a weekend resting at home with family does wonders as well.

In the old days "re setting and re charging" was rightly called laziness.

In the really old days around here, there was a 'day of rest' each week (which one depending) using God as an example, and there were festivals encouraging rest and enjoyment of the blessings of life at least once a month.

In really really olden days, using the research on hunter-gathering populations and the remains we have, the subsistence and domestic tasks take about 40-50 hours a week, the rest of the time largely used in social bonding activities including sitting around, telling stories, and conserving energy - that's why there is that 'urge', why our bodies are so good at it, we evolved like most other animals to have stretches of time at a default rest, recharging and - for social species like ours - bond state.

Laziness as a word comes into English around the start of the Early Modern period, and the modern push to be as productive as possible, to make rest something to demonise, to refer to it as laziness and 'festering', something we need to earn and to turn even those into potential productivity is not for our benefit. Too much of anything isn't great for us, but the idea that a weekend quietly at home with the family in comfortable clothes is festering like a wound comes from a cultural shift that has taken much of our humanity from us.

cartagenagina · 03/10/2026 12:14

topcat2014 · 03/10/2026 12:10

Why?
Is it good for mental health to fester in doors in pyjamas?

Yes. Yes it is.

wavingfuriously · 03/10/2026 12:14

topcat2014 · 03/10/2026 09:48

You really have to fight this urge to make your life so small. Don't give into it. You get out what you put in.

There has to be more to life than chores.

No-one cares if your house is a shit tip.. (I mean, it may not be - but we certainly let the house give in compared to actually doing something with 20 years of our lives)

Please elaborate 🙏

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 03/10/2026 12:19

Brendayouknowthatyouremuchtoolazy · 03/10/2026 09:51

Bollocks.

Thanks for that, saved me the trouble. I'm 72, perfectly capable of organising my life and I don't want or need to be lectured to 'get out and enjoy myself' as if I'm a moody teen.

As it was I slept badly last night (suspect it's getting a bit too cold for the summer duvet AND open windows and I was not warm enough to sleep deeply) and I've decided to shelve looking at sofas for reading and watching the racing. Plus, I have mince pies to quality test.

theblame · 03/10/2026 12:21

topcat2014 · 03/10/2026 12:10

Why?
Is it good for mental health to fester in doors in pyjamas?

For me yes. And why would I be festering? I spend a lot of money on my mortgage, I want to enjoy my house! I might be cooking, reading, in the garden, watching a film, playing with the cat, exercising…
my home isn’t somewhere to run away from every day as fast as possible

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 03/10/2026 12:24

Damned right it is. And your use of the word 'fester' was deliberate, with all the negative implications of infection and dirt, wasn't it?

LilyBunch25 · 03/10/2026 12:30

topcat2014 · 03/10/2026 12:10

Why?
Is it good for mental health to fester in doors in pyjamas?

Absolutely yes it can be, if someone has had an exhausting week especially if they are in a people heavy role. And many don't "fester" Aghast you may be that when I've done this myself I've even had an actual shower before changing into a nice clean set of comfies! Imagine the scandal.

LilyBunch25 · 03/10/2026 12:33

wavingfuriously · 03/10/2026 12:14

Please elaborate 🙏

Yes, indeed. Also- why isn't that poster doing a bracing and fulfilling activity instead of posting on MN? It's Saturday! Shouldn't they at the very least be abseiling down a cliff side or something....?😯🤔

LilyBunch25 · 03/10/2026 12:34

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 03/10/2026 12:19

Thanks for that, saved me the trouble. I'm 72, perfectly capable of organising my life and I don't want or need to be lectured to 'get out and enjoy myself' as if I'm a moody teen.

As it was I slept badly last night (suspect it's getting a bit too cold for the summer duvet AND open windows and I was not warm enough to sleep deeply) and I've decided to shelve looking at sofas for reading and watching the racing. Plus, I have mince pies to quality test.

Personally interested in the mince pie test! 😊 haven't decided on which to buy yet!

MissingMeadow · 03/10/2026 12:36

topcat2014 · 03/10/2026 09:49

In the old days "re setting and re charging" was rightly called laziness.

Get up, get dressed in proper daytime clothes and get out of the house as soon as you can.

Or you could spend your weekend however the fuck you want.

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 03/10/2026 12:38

LilyBunch25 · 03/10/2026 12:34

Personally interested in the mince pie test! 😊 haven't decided on which to buy yet!

Waitrose brown butter minis with cognac. I've only eaten one box so far so more sampling is required. 😊

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 03/10/2026 12:40

MissingMeadow · 03/10/2026 12:36

Or you could spend your weekend however the fuck you want.

I wonder if that poster is old enough to remember Sundays in the 60s and 70s when everything was shut and it was called a day of REST.

KeepPuttingOneFootInFront · 03/10/2026 12:40

Fester, ha ha ha.

My quiet day at home has so far included a couple of loads of laundry, catching up on logging cpd, baking a load of bread - still ongoing, putting my work clothes away because my spare room looks like a teenage bedroom at the weekend and listening to my audiobook.

Very good for my mental health imo 🍻, cheers!

ETA, my afternoon plans include reading the newspaper and all supplements drinking tea and no doubt having a piece of warm bread and butter, aka nothing much.

GameOfJones · 03/10/2026 12:41

I need a mix. I absolutely have to have chillout time at the weekend but I also know I'm no good if I do absolutely nothing with my day so I try to get the balance right.

Today is probably a pretty classic example. DH and I had a lie in until 9am whilst DDs watched cartoons downstairs. Then I got up, showered and we popped into town to run a couple of errands. We were back home by 11.30 and won't be going out again today. I've made some lunch for everyone, DDs are now watching a film, I want to have a long bath this afternoon and read my book, DH fancies slow cooking a curry for dinner and we need to do a load of laundry.

Chilling out to me doesn't mean sitting on the sofa doomscrolling all day in my pyjamas. I know that would do me no good at all but I do enjoy a slower pace, not having anywhere we need to be and having a mixture of resting and getting a couple of things ticked off the list.....even if it's just going for a walk or changing the beds.

LilyBunch25 · 03/10/2026 12:42

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 03/10/2026 12:38

Waitrose brown butter minis with cognac. I've only eaten one box so far so more sampling is required. 😊

Ooh....😋

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 03/10/2026 12:45

LilyBunch25 · 03/10/2026 12:42

Ooh....😋

Gwaaaaannnnnn, you know you want to.....

LilyBunch25 · 03/10/2026 12:49

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 03/10/2026 12:45

Gwaaaaannnnnn, you know you want to.....

I do lol 😅

Makebelieveanotherlife · 03/10/2026 12:51

I have younger kids so it’s all about clubs and activities, but from midday Saturday- Monday it’s strictly family time. We see friends at a max of once a month. I know a few people who are scheduled in with activities and plans every second. I think they just don’t know how to wind down.

wavingfuriously · 03/10/2026 13:07

Can see both sides of this discussion...do tend to fester bigtime..eg looking at social media especially if tired.. and having to force oneself to get out of the house at weekends isn't a bad thing.. you may actually enjoy yourself!☺️

It's the winter that is maximum festering time ...hate the b*y cold and nice to stay indoors 🤷‍♀️

topcat2014 · 03/10/2026 18:57

LilyBunch25 · 03/10/2026 12:33

Yes, indeed. Also- why isn't that poster doing a bracing and fulfilling activity instead of posting on MN? It's Saturday! Shouldn't they at the very least be abseiling down a cliff side or something....?😯🤔

I work 7 days a week in two jobs..

frozendaisy · 03/10/2026 19:07

Each weekend is different

Love a lazy house weekend
Also love a busy friends over chat weekend
Also enjoy a weekend away somewhere new

I think if you can be content with where you are, who you’re with, what you are doing, you can recharge.

I find a weekend full of laughter helps whether that’s laughter round a kitchen table or on a windy flat flying kites - it’s the laughter that matters.

LilyBunch25 · 03/10/2026 20:28

topcat2014 · 03/10/2026 18:57

I work 7 days a week in two jobs..

And...? You came on here to tell everyone they should be doing things at weekends- quite disrespectfully at times. That you now say you work weekends doesn't change that, does it?

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