to struggle for ideas as to what to do at w/ends with the kids?

[spookerv1xen]

every weekend i am at a loss to what to do

and they end up being sooooooooooo boring :( we usually go in to town saturdays for a look round the shops and maybe a bit of lunch, then sundays we tend to do the food shop. which i HATE because I HATE supermarkets and esp at weekends when they are rammed. and i hate feeling like i am doing exactly the same everyone and their f**king dog are doing as well IYSWIM.

it sounds really horrible but the best weekends we have are when we haven't got the kids, ie if they are at grandparents (which is probably like once a month) i feel sooooo bad and selfish for admitting this. on the child free weekends me and DP usually go out drinking or for a meal sat night then stay in bed shagging all of sunday. or sometimes we'll stay at a hotel (nowt fancy just get a last minute deal off last minute.com or something.)

what do other people do? i really want to start making the most of my weekends. DC are 1.6 and 4.6

Why do you go into town Saturdays and Sundays? Why not go for lunch one day and do the shopping after lunch - that gives you the other weekend day to do something with the kids...

If we don't have anything exciting (like a full day out) planned then we sometimes go to the park, feed the ducks, stay in and get all the glitter and paints out, bake cakes, visit friends or have friends over to play/ for dinner.

Go to the park, swimming, soft play etc Saturday. Walking around shops with small children is my idea of hell.

Sunday is more relaxed, Dc 3 and 2)get their bikes out and we go to the park for 30 mins. Bit of Tv and board games with DD1 ihn afternoon whilst dd2 sleeps.

Swimming, soft play, baking, arts and craft, arrange for the older one to have a ffriend over (hopefully this will then be reciprocated) Trip to the park/feed ducks or just spend half hour in Starbucks or somewhere, you (and dh if you have one), get to enjoy a coffee and the kids can choose a drink/snack. Visit family or have them come to you?

I realise I'm lucky in some ways that I only work part time, so manage to fit in supermarket shopping etc while the kids are at school. Could you shop online though, to save yourself the hassle of a crowded supermarket at weekends?

we go swimming or bowling or to soft play ones of the days. We also go out for lunch or dinner one day (which may or may not be the same day as the activity). DH does the food shopping on a Saturday morning by himself as it would be a nightmare to take the kids with us.

p.s. we quite often do baking on a sunday which is our more relaxed day

Go swimming, go for a long walk and kick leaves (DD's loved doing that yesterday), cooking (make pizza/meatballs/cakes), gardening, visit friends and let DC's play together, go to local farm shop & look at the animals, look in local paper for jumble sales/fairs/events, go to the Car boot sale - large ones often have bouncy castles.

we tend to

go to the local indoor playcentre
wrap up and walk to the local park to feed the ducks, look at the wildlife and people watch, if its dry we take a bit of a picnic,
go out for lunch on a sunday so i dont have to cook!
go the local railway museum cos its indoors and free, or any other museum thats free
some saturdays we go to the local civic hall resturant (its cheap and the food is good) have tea and a couple of drinks
swimming
spend a morning doing crafty things, especially coming up to christmas - dc 1.6 can play with crafty things, and dc 4.6 can make xmas cards for everyone
sometimes we just go for a slow walk for an hour and talk about what we see, it helps ds learn about things without knowing it

Towns and shopping are hell for (and with) small DCs!
Stay at home-let them get bored and amuse themselves. Bake, paint etc. Go swimming, to the park or just for a run around. Get muddy-jump in puddles, kick your way through leaves. Visit the library.

I would never ever take the DCs to the shops unless they needed new shoes and HAD to come with! I pay tesco £4 to deliver as I work, can't imagine dragging kids round supermarket.

We usually go swimming on sunday morning. If the weather is ok take the bikes to the park. Or in summer go to one of the free country parks, in winter to free museums eg science musuem, raf museum.

We also invite friends for lunch with kids of similar ages kids play and adults chat and eat.

Today we made gingerbread men - last sunday made pizza - and today also did one of DD's art and crafts birthday present things.

We also save up our tesco vouchers and use them to go to expensive outings like zoo/legoland etc.

We never ever had child free weekend, no one would ever offer, my parents live abroad and DH's parents too busy. Although playdate friends do reciprocate.

we go to the park for a long walk/bike ride, go to an exhibition, boat trip, cinema....

Lots and lots of exercise-tire them out!

Don't have kids yet, but if you hate the supermarket so much, shop online instead. You can do it in the evening with a glass of wine, a nice man/woman will deliver your food to your kitchen, and you are free from the hell. I hate supermarkets as well. Online shopping is a lifesaver.

Mine is 23 months and we do lots of things with her, DH is only here at weekends prob 1 in 4 but rest of time I do stuff alone with her.

Park, esp if we can feed ducks as makes it seem like more activities.
Library to change our books once a week. I did go to the storytime sessions but mine just runs around and i was mortified.much better going in our own time.
Softplay
Childrens theme park like Thomasland
Farm/Zoo
Bike ride, she has a forward facing seat so thinks its brill. Or take her out to countyr park on her little trike.
Craft stuff, sticking painting etc.

I never take mine to the shops if i can help it and shop online where possible.

I did take her to a garden centre today as we're trying to get her to see the christmas stuff purely as she is getting interested in "chris who brings the post down the chimney"

Long walks- dd is now 21 months and can walk for about a mile without moaning, so we don't always bother with a push chair for her.

Swimming

Church- I'm not a beliver but both my dcs love the music (trad. choir) and I think it's a nice calm environment for them- plus i get a bit of quiet. Uses up at least an hour-more if you stay for refreshments

Softplay? my idea of hell but good for a rainy day

An art gallery if you live in the city?

spookerv1xen
What do you like to do?
I think it's important to think about what you'd enjoy and then fit in kids activities around it.
Eg I can't abide shopping in town, but if I have to then we also do 1 kids thing in town like the free indoor soft play in the shopping centre or the fountains in the square or the castle museum has a great kids bit usually with a craft activity as does the art gallery.

Just think-if you stopped seeing shopping as a main leisure activity then you could use all the money you've saved on a short break with the kids to the coast or legoland or anywhere really!

We have always gone out on bikes-bike seats on ours when they were little and then tagalong and now they can keep up with us (twins are 6)!

We go swimming every Sunday and then have a roast dinner and do homework.

I get the shopping delivered too-it's £3.50 on some slots with tesco and I can unpack at night without the kids in the way.

My boys do football on saturday mornings-loads of dance classes and the like for 4yrolds on then.

I'd make a list of all these ideas and stick it on the fridge. Then I'd make a pact with dh not to go to town for 2 weeks. See how it goes.

Kids are never a rest, but they they can be fun.

I look in the paper for what's on, farmers markets, fairs and other events. Also the council do a magazine each month with info about what's on, also on their website. They have lots of family events on at the free galleries and museums.

We do random things like a couple weeks ago we did an open top tourist bus ride round our local city. Today I took dd on the train to york and we pottered about seeing the sites.

Other than that we have swimming lessons Saturday morning, and usually a birthday party about every other weekend it so.

Sometimes it's easy to forget the stuff you live near, especially the free stuff.

sometimes we hop on a train and go somewhere not too far away, set a budget of about £20 in total for return tickets, we can get to the seaside for that or sometimes we just go a couple of towns away, ds loves the train and the journey is always part of the fun

Where do you live?

If you're close to a big city, there's usually plenty on at weekends, often for free.

We've never had a child-free weekend either! Once a month sounds wonderful!!

Also, i forgot, that we tend to have an annual pass every year for somewhere different - zoo, arboretum, so if we are at a loss we just go there and take a picnic. If the weather is rubbish we have a car picnic.

Also today i have just spent an hour in the bath with the DD's. I have now trained mine that pouring water down my back is A Good Thing

Where has spooker gone? Has she gone shoppign again?

Don't go shopping! It shrivels the brain.

yes a lot of places do an annual pass now for the cost of one normal entry. i have one for eureka and one for beamish. great for a 'free' last minute day out. just got one for york minster today actually. will be nice to go back at christmas.

Join the national trust then everthibg is free entry afterwards. Always something to do then x