Yet again. Please. Just say what your husband’s bloody hobby is.

[AliciaQuays]

Stop all this highly irritating coyness.

I'm at all the cyclists having abs and looking like Greek gods. All my male friends who cycle do not look like that at all.

I agree with pp that it's the "doing his hobby" that both grates and also makes people want to find out the exact hobby. It's far more sensible in most cases to say he was working on his boat, or at a meeting of the local history society or whatever.

My husband has hobbies and I actively encourage it. He was two boats and he goes fishing when he can (and takes the children!). I love this, because his boat has a licence and he fishes for lobsters! He was a fisherman for decades so I don't worry about him and although he wishes I'd go too, I get seasick in the bath so I show my love and support by paying for stuff!

I think hobbies are broadly speaking a good thing and I encourage my sons to develop their interests. They sew with me, one bakes, we make candles and soap, one has a garden he is building and when they are a bit older I'll teach them to make really good beer. Doing something different gives us something to talk about and helps them learn to manage stress.

HepzibahGreen

I did a bit of that. Then my scientifically knowledgeable DF started muttering things about botulism, which scared me off. I stick to making pickles now.

I think some people SGBare missing the point a bit btw. It's not the fact of having a hobby at all-I have a couple (couldn't possibly say too outing..) It's the tediously obsessive, all consuming and expensive way in which men seem to pursue their hobbies ESPECIALLY cycling. Oh, and climbing. I think that can be even more obsessive actually.

Ooh now Tom I could get into pickles! I love anything pickly.

There’s something called the ‘Lost Trades Fair’ near where I live.

I wander around in wonder. Blacksmithing, fletching, furniture making, traditional fabrics, etc.

Then I judge all the blokes demonstrating the trades, and those milling around in awe. Two camps: young hipsters & middle aged guys dreamily imagining how many hours/days to themselves they could enjoy while doing them as hobbies. Not too expensive, not too onerous or physical. Just right for feeling self important, special, and escaping the ‘wife and two veg’. Probably extra points for ‘lost trades’ that have fact-finding expeditions to far flung countries.

It's the tediously obsessive, all consuming and expensive way in which men seem to pursue their hobbies ESPECIALLY cycling.

I know. Isn't it just awful. Why can't they just slob on the couch like normal people?

Come and join us! Embrace your inner pickle!

I always laugh when MN husbands' non-specific hobbies are mentioned. Just call it cycling if it's so obscure it would out you.

Taking his restored 1969 classic coach to shows almost every weekend in summer and early autumn.
Then we use it in the winter to take friends and family to Xmas markets.

Weirdly there IS a middle ground between slobbing on the couch and spending ALL you time, energy and money on cycling or whatever and merely existing between outings...

crikey - those of you that are so negative about it not being a hobby but avoiding family life etc - do none of you have hobby's?

@ControversialFerret I actually don't mention my main hobby on mn cause I think it's outing!

Thinking back to major exes:

1. Plane spotting /plane enthusiasm.
2. Airsoft, OTC, fencing .
3. Watching & playing cricket and football, gaming, coding, d&d, national trusting.
4. Gaming, eating,
5. Hockey & hockey refereeing, playing in an orchestra and singing in a church choir, followed football, cricket & rugby
6. collecting suits and... accoutrements for suits, maintaining his suits, playing with his rolex. The guy I'm hoping to date is a serious cricket fan. He's at the cricket today & tomorrow!

TomHagenMakesMyBosomTremble See, all my exes have the same hobby in common. My Club is one massive game of “Six degrees of sexual separation” where you will definitely have a sexual connection (shagged X who has shagged Y who has shagged Z) with the majority of the club that has been around long enough

Now, for anyone who knows the club - that is outing!

I think from the outpouring of hatred towards cyclists on this thread, it's pretty obvious why anyone who's other half likes riding bikes would want to keep quiet about it.

And while it's all good fun to pile on bloody mamils and so on, a keen cyclist I know once told me he'd lost 8 of his friends to being run-over by impatient drivers, so have a think about who's side you want to be on...

DH is a golfer. Bores me to death with talk about bogeys, eagles and pars... whatever all of that means. And the money he spends on it is eye watering (thankfully that he can afford). But at least he's exercising and out of my hair, so I rarely grumble about it.

My cousin is a born again cyclist and I feel so sorry for his wife... she's the mug stood by the side of the road in the back arse of nowhere taking photos of his arse whizzing past in skintight lycra..... his head clad in a hat that some poor alien is still looking for after dropping it from the mothership

I'm slightly offended at the suggestion gaming is seen as weird. I've been gaming on and off for over a decade. I'm married, have two children, two jobs, other interests and I have friends. We have met up many times with a few of the people we game with, outlr children all get on great and the last thing we talk about is the game!

How is this seen as more laughable than sitting watching TV programmes for hours on end??

"I think men take up cycling because the padded shorts enhance the size of their package."

Doesn't do much for their sperm count, though. Perhaps that's why they do it: cheap family planning and more reliable than the withdrawal method

Dyrne,

But I thought swinging was a popular enough hobby these days not to be outing?

TomPinch Although it would be frowned upon here - not the swinging itself, but all the Pampas Grass requires constant maintenance clearly taking me away from my duty as a mother to stare at my children for the entire evening.

I just wish the cyclists would think twice before they come into my shop to buy their protein bars for the return journey.

Their crotches line up exactly with the counter. It always looks as though they're about to rest their willies on my till.

I don't want willies rested on my till. Neither do I want their packages framed by my screen on one side and the multipack crisps on the other. For the love of Sir Bradley, won't someone do something about the underwear?

I play D&D, I collect and play Warhammer, I do indulge in the playstation on occasion but that is very rare these days. I'd like to brew beer and make mead if I could ever manage to sort out the garage. I've tried blacksmithing, thought it was brilliant, but don't have the space or money to make it a regular hobby.

Hobbies my partner and I enjoy together: Cycling, walking, camping for our holidays, outside cooking, going to local events like vintage fairs, steam rallies, beer festivals, going to see bands.

Hobbies my partner enjoys: Crotcheting, gardening, motorsport, shopping, cooking/baking.

We're both happy, our hobbies aren't taken to excess, so it's all good. Life is far too brief to put too much thought into what others think of you, especially about the things you enjoy doing, there's no point being embarrassed.

For those of you with MAMLs, I need to tell you that here in the outskirts of our city, many congregate every Sunday morning for long group cycles in the quiet country roads..
After their cycle, the cafes are PACKED with MAMLs having coffee and eating porridge or cake. One cafe was barely used all week but stayed open based on the Sunday cyclist trade!
So when they tell you that they come straight home, raise an eyebrow.
For us locals, they're perfect visitors. Well mannered, spend money, quiet. Just a bit sweaty!

@WonderWomansSpin you should know by now that all MNers are married to 'high earners' who look like Greek gods.

No one is married to a 5'5" dumpy traffic warden.

@Dyrne I wonder if we have the same hobby? Tight but active social scene, regular opportunities for evening wear, lots of in-the-social-circle shagging? Not swinging though.

@Wherearemyminions I'm wondering if you live opposite my parents. Does your DH have a name beginning with R, have an Austen 7 car and fix vacuums? If so, he and my DF have a shared love of vintage motorsport.

To the Pp with the bus painting DH, I used to know someone who ran a bus enthusiast publication. It's a very small world, bus enthusiasm!