When I was a child, I was constantly bored. When I wasn't at school I fought with my brother and watched TV. Occasionally on the weekend we drove to the same place, ate lunch at the same place and drove home. I genuinely can't remember a single interesting or engaging event outside of school the entire childhood.
Fast forward to now, I have 2 kids: 3 months old and 2 and a half years old and I am on maternity leave. To me, being a good parent is keeping them busy. I avoid long periods of time at home just the 3 of us. We do different toddler groups, soft play, parks, visit friends/family, have friends/family over, library. Sometimes a museum. My toddler goes to her childminder one day per week.
Yesterday we stayed home all day and it was so nice. She played with toys mainly and we did some painting then played in the bath. She also watched way too much TV really and I was on my phone too much I suppose. It was down time.
With winter drawing in and my baby waking frequently in the night I'd like more days like this. Maybe one weekday and one day at the weekend.
So what is normal? What do/did you do? How many activities in a week outside of the house?