To be pissed off at everything stopping for summer?

[Cyclemad222]

I have a baby and toddler. All the groups are off for the summer. Baby cinema is off.

What am I supposed to do to entertain these kids? I get people go on holiday, but argggh

@GemmeFatale time to get active then! lical facebook groups etc, just organise something yourself. you can’t just expect others to give ip their time to organise stuff for you. Get out, talk to others!

@myself2020 I’ve spent over ten years running adventure activities for local cadet groups and three volunteering with dog charities (neither are exactly something I can do right now). I’ve put my tuppence into the community and right now I’m struggling. Baby is IVF so I’m out of sequence with most friends who either have much older kids or are childfree. What I need right now is someone to offer me a little help. But thanks for letting me know I should just organise it myself.

Get to the library! Loads on at our local library in the summer running in conjunction with the summer reading challenge. All events are free, families are welcome to stay and play and read, with mums if youngsters often meeting in the children's library and die dung all morning there.

(Rhyme time, story time, baby bounce sessions, summer crafts, treasure hunt, visit from the zoo, street dance classes, mad scientist workshop, Lego club and colouring in competitions etc etc)

*staying there all morning (wtf does die dung mean )

A lot of it is to do with cost. I run Rainbows and Brownies and we have tried to do it during the holidays but it just isn't worth it. You rarely get more than a few girls because they are either away or the weather is nice and their parents have taken advantage of it with a day trip. The rental of the hall still has to be paid for, the cost of an activity has to be met and the volunteers cannot take advantage of a nice day and take their own kids out.

Baby is IVF so I’m out of sequence with most friends who either have much older kids or are childfree.

Gemme, not had IVF but have had fertility issues and loss and hence in a similar situation to this, it's a strange space isn't it.

@GemmeFatale but saying “guess i’ll have to be lonely now” in mumsnet is not going to change anything for you. putting a note on a local facebook group “i have a 12 week old, any local
mums who are interested in a meet-up?” will likely get you somewhere . your choice, but your past engagements

I run a baby/toddler activity franchise.
I do it to fit in with my kids.
Who are not at school during the summer.
Not practical to bring them with me in summer
Hence stuff doesn't run.

The cast majority of people running such groups do it (and don't do it in school hols) for the same reason.

Gemme I was also out of ‘sync’ with people my own age when I had my baby at 43, had also moved home 100 miles away from family and friends & like you, had done years of volunteering and doing my bit for the community. However I just had to make an effort if I wanted to meet anyone ... I set up my own baby & toddler group at the local village hall & made loads of ‘playdates’ with people I had met at pre-natal classes. Also made a point of meeting people without children so that my life didn’t totally revolve around babies, an added bonus of this was that some childfree friends were really pleased to offer to babysit or just take my DS for a walk to give me some time to myself.

Agree! I have a 2 yr old, an 8 month old and don't drive and all the groups locally are closed. 😭😭😭😭

It must depend on area. There is loads on for little ones round my way. We still have Children’s Centres and most of their classes are still running. There are 3 different churches running activities on different days each week. While these are open to all they never get really busy so are fine for tots. And we have loads of ‘stay and play’ type cafes that are aimed at under 5s. Then the local park had a picnic event on for under 5s this week, somewhere else has story and snack time for under 5s once a week, another place is doing a special playgroup once a week. It’s great! But I have the problem that I can’t take my toddler to everything as I have 2 older kids that are too old for those activities but not quite old enough to be left at home. So we have to find things suitable for all.

Our local cinema is running kids cinema everyday throughout the holidays, babies are welcome - it's £5 including a Capri sun and a little bag of popcorn. As groups are often run by volunteers they take holidays too

Yes Kits, it sounds as if I am in a similar situation to you - finding activities that suit different age groups, although my eldest is old enough to be left for a few hours alone (teen). Could the older ones take something that interests them - a book/drawing whatever, my eldest used to take along a book (they are a bookworm though having said that). I know how tricky it is and fortunately, this hols I have been able to book my middle dc into a holiday club a few days a week to break things up a bit. I struggled last year during the Summer hols with 3 dcs and 3 different stages and no extended family so grateful to be able to have done this.

Were are you we’ve got loads on at our family centre in SE London, most of it is free or very low cost too.