Female weekend hobbies

[sillysmiles]

Frequently men having "hobbies" that take them away from their family/house at the weekends is frowned upon.
But surely what we should be doing is encouraging women to also maintain a sense of self and own interests away from the family? IMO it's good for the family and for the individual.

So wise MNetters - hit me up with your weekend hobbies where you make your husbands/partners/SO weekend widowers.

[minniemomo]

Dd plays in an orchestra, and gets paid a fee, ditto sings as a soloist.

[NeedToKnow101]

This thread has made me feel quite unaccomplished. I do love a walk or a game of tennis though. And making and seeing art occasionally. Not often enough.

[Parky04]

My DW has had a season ticket at our local football club for the past 35 years. And no I didn't mind looking after the DC for around 4 hours every other Saturday!

[Polyethyl]

Church and church choir practice
Sewing
Scouts leading
A charity I volunteer for.

[NotQuiteUsual]

I take the dog swimming in the sea. She drags me round the water. It's fab fun. Bit nippy still this time of year though.

[muddyford]

Beating and picking up on a local shoot through the winter with my wonderful dogs. I'm out the house from 8.00 till 6.00! That's most Saturdays and often a couple of days in the week. I have a cushion which says, 'This marriage is suspended for the shooting season' which pretty much sums it up!

[notalwaysalondoner]

I agree in principle - I think it comes down to (on average) women are more likely to not want to shirk their responsibilities and go spend hours and hours on the weekend indulging their hobby outside the home, whereas (on average) there are more men out there happily looking for an excuse to get away from the domestic grind and it is more socially acceptable for them to do so, and therefore they will feel no guilt about doing so.

Therefore you need a hobby that requires you to be out of the house for several hours, that preferably isn't able to be cancelled at the last minute, and probably involves overpriced equipment. I'm planning on getting into horse riding as my main weekend hobby - DH is already very into cycling and I do worry after we have our first baby he'll be off for hours on a weekend whereas I don't have an equivalent hobby. Hence horses.

Other suggestions include surfing, kayaking, rock climbing, fishing...

[NotQuiteUsual]

When I say the dog drags me round in the water. I do mean in a controlled manner. I hold her arse and she swims along pulling me. She's not trying to drown me or anything!

[Couchbettato]

Powerlifting and gardening

[AgeLikeWine]

I’m a season ticket holder at a Championship club. In summer, I’m a big fan of Test cricket and I love to travel as much as possible.

Many of my friends own horses and travel the country competing them in dressage, jumping, evening etc. Hobbies don’t come more time-consuming or expensive than that and at grass-roots level, equestrianis, is an almost exclusively female world.

[nixonten]

Very few of these involve competitions.
Many men would list sports or games.
We used to sail dinghies, with racing every Sunday. Then we aged.
Mostly couples.

[wearetheweirdosmr]

Paddle boarding - very relaxing pedalling along the river. Only downside is the teens want to come too. This can be lovely but they spend a lot of time collecting rubbish from the river and it takes twice as long to set up and pack away at the end

[Campervan69]

I love car booting. Go every Sunday morning when they're on. Love it. Leave kids in hands of husband, and have done for the past 15 or so years since I discovered them.

[minniemomo]

Does lying in bed count? My kids are adults though so I have no responsibilities. We actually spend the weekends with each other but are taking up sailing - off to see a boat later

[alloverthecarpetagain]

Pre-covid obviously, but Theatre, darling!

[TooBored1]

Cycling!

[stayathomer]

Sorry tone 'that person', but I always remember my uncle asking us to visit because my aunt played golf all weekend (he died only a year later but that'snothingto do with anything). I think hobbies are great, but people shouldn't take the piss either. My friend's dh trains for marathons. He starts his run at 11 o clock then is back around 4. Personally I think if something takes that amount of time you should be going at about 6 in the morning so you have family time!

[Confusedandshaken]

I used to do craft fairs, exhibiting and selling things I'd made. Later I trained as a counsellor which involved many, many residential training weekends and then ongoing conferences and CPD. It probably took up 10-12 weekends a year.

I was a mainly SAHM and DH worked long very hours during the week. He would then take care of the D.C. while I did my stuff. We discovered some years later that our kid's friend's parent's thought we were divorced because we were never in the same place at the same time.

[YoComoManzanas]

I regularly go mountain biking which can take 2 to 4/5 hours. Also fell running but that only takes an hour or so. He does wild swimming, weights in the garage and road cycling. We both used to be rock climbers before kids but don't have time now. Will probably get youngest into it soon though.
Gardening as well but I can do that around the kids.

[Xiaoxiong]

I like to do "project" cooking and spend an afternoon making something complicated from scratch, or a multi course Saturday night dinner.

Walking - I can easily walk 3-4 hours chatting with a friend on a Sunday afternoon. Would be wild swimming as well but it's too fucking cold. I also like doing 1 hour barre or pilates workouts and no one is allowed to interrupt me because it's for my health, they have to ask DH for stuff instead.

I do a good clear-out of a cupboard, while listening to a podcast. If anyone tries to bother me I send them off to DH and say I'm doing housework. (I don't do any actual housework...)

I have a hammock in the garden and like to read novels in there for a couple of hours. Haven't got much use out of it yet this year!! I practically slept in it in the first lockdown...

[FizzyPink]

Placemarking to read later.

DP works all day Saturday and sometimes Sunday as well and I frequently find myself just cleaning the house if I don’t have plans with friends. I could do with a hobby that isn’t planning holidays or shopping

[Roboticcarrot]

Rugby training for me, it's one evening a week and matches are some weekends.

[Xiaoxiong]

Very few of these involve competitions.

It's true. I don't find competitive stuff relaxing or motivating though (unless it's at work) so I wouldn't choose to do anything competitive as a hobby!

[UrsulaTee]

Before Covid I would regularly book myself a night away in a hotel and just savour the peace!

[TenCornMaidens]

Creative writing workshops