To say I'm dreading Easter Bank Holidays ?

[Pappadontpreach80]

DH & 2 mid teen DC at home. They will game, maybe see mates etc. They are too young to be left at home all day alone. Me and DH are always around, even if we're in & out the house doing errands etc.

There is nothing going on this bank holiday. Its due to rain the whole time. DC refuse to go away (uk). They might come out for a day. I do not want to be stuck at home doing jobs the whole time. Which is what I do most weekends.

I'll go for a run, see local family etc but apart from that it's going to be be bloody boring. I could go out with friends but I would feel bad leaving DH at home, alone, bored on a bank hol weekend. I don't even know if my friends are around tbh.

What on earth am I going to do ?

Tbh, Friday night I just wanna piss off to the pub with DH. But a bit meh just the two of us. DC like us to be at home, even if they are gaming in their rooms. They like to know we are there. Boring.

Saturday we will go out with DC in the eve for food.

To add, DC don't do walks/ national trust/biking etc so anything like that is out of the question. We don't do the theatre. There's nothing on at the cinema.

Please can someone give me some inspiration. I can't face 4 days in the house/ doing jobs.

I would kill to have a long weekend with nothing to do. Sleep. Read a book. Batch cook. Watch telly.

How old are the kids - it's been asked lots of times
What would you like to do? Rather than listing all the things you don't want to do
You are counting a day out as a 10 hour trip, why can't you and DH go to the local pub for a couple of hours in the afternoon?

It doesn’t really sound like you have many interests OP, I’m not surprised you’re bored, quite apart from being unable to leave teens.

"Lots of people saying they were left at 16 and went off on their own at 16. The world was a different place back then."

Indeed. Our parents didn't have mobile phones on which they could be contacted in an emergency! My parents didn't even have a landline until I was 21 - which was after I'd left home.

What baffles me is that the two teens can freely go out with their mates leaving the OP/DH - but the OP/DH can't (apparently) do the same. They're safer in the house alone than they are out doing who knows what.

@BringMeSunshineAllDayLong

DH isn't much into socialising so I go out quite a lot without him.

Same here - but I'm inspired by your post for when my DC get a bit older and have a bit more time on my hands- so much fun things out there to do!

I really don't understand your predicament. Have a couple of days in, pottering, reading, watching tv, whatever else you enjoy. Then you and husband have a couple of days of going for a walk or a coffee, lunch at a pub followed by a few drinks, cinema, museum, or whatever takes your fancy. Teens will be fine left for a few hours. They need to learn to stop 'expecting' you both to be around.

From your last post I would suggest you and your DH both need to start finding hobbies you enjoy to do alone and things you like to do together. From that long list it doesn’t sound like there’s anything you like to do at all and you’ve probably got stuck in a rut. You’ve probably only been doing stuff with the kids for years and now they are that bit older don’t know what to do? I was a lone parent and once my child was older I also really struggled as I had only ever done things with him so I had to start trying to do other things, it is hard.

I am also not looking forward to the break as it will just be myself and my partner, we have made no plans as emotionally it’s easier that way. We are currently NC or very very LC (ie a phone call or later a few times a year no visits) with all family on both sides and we don’t have any friends so it’s just the two of us. But I’m sure we will still pop out somewhere nice each day, we have our own hobbies to do at home, garden and household stuff to get organised together, a couple of nice meals together (we take turns to cook), a picnic out and will probably have a movie night one evening and enjoy a lay in one day. I had been hoping to go to the cinema but I’ve just checked and that would be £25 so not an option now. Just little things that don’t cost anything apart from fuel.

Normally days we are both free, for example a Saturday, we try to find things to do together. We are on a tight budget but so far this year each weekend we’ve got out in the car somewhere. We’ve been to lots of nearby places, all under an hour away. We usually look for free parking and tend to take a sandwich with us to eat in the car, we just go out to get a change of scenery. Amazingly we’ve had some really nice days out (ie 3-4hours) even with the terrible weather and now we are back to not knowing what to do we are starting to do the same places over again 3 months later but do a different thing when we visit. We’ve been to two new parks, new for us, in two of the places one of which was really lovely so they are now added to the list of things to do in those places so we are broadening our list of things to go and do. We are not members of NT etc as can’t afford that right now so everything’s really cheap.

Check on a map an hour or so radius from your house and start going to all the different places or see what’s in each place. There must be decent parks, nature reserves, cute towns to walk around? As for hobbies we both have separate ones so they take up on our evenings and other spare time. I’ve had to make a conscious effort to do all of this in the last couple of years as I had to have therapy for my MH as I was so low only ever cooking and cleaning. I also try to get some fresh air every day, even just a walk around the block breaks the monotony.

If you start making the time to do this in a couple of Easter’s or summers from now you and your DH will have a ‘bank’ of things to go and do that you like.

Although actually having read your latest update you don't seem to have any interests whatsoever so no wonder you're bored.

It does sound like you are just happy moaning. Knock yourself out

So you have no interest in anything, and anything you could do that you might enjoy takes 10 hours minimum. Your kids similarly don’t have any interests, but equally want to be with you and don’t want to be left for the day. I don’t understand what you want? If you said what you actually want, maybe someone could give ideas. Kindly OP, you’re quite defeatist and just throwing up barriers for yourself.

I am a completely lone parent. I can’t go on day trips 10 hours at a time without my (younger than yours) kids. I have to do things that fit in the in between zone. Go out when it isn’t raining, yes there are breaks. But you hate walking and coffee and history and the cinema and seemingly everything else. What do you actually want to do, what would you do if it was fabulous weather this weekend? What’s the dream?

OP what do you normally do when it’s the weekend?

You haven't said how old your DCs are. Mid teens so I presume 14/15/16? Surely you can go to the pub or out for a meal with your DH, they don't need you there all the time.

Particularly as they have got each other for company, they won't even be alone!

@EasterBunnny weekends are usually:
Saturday AM: Go food shopping, put food away/clean out fridge & kitchen/bins out/washing on/house work. PM: maybe pop to local shops for things we need (that I cannot buy in supermarket) or go running/gym or general jobs indoors. EVE: drinks & food at home with DH and film/tv or go to see our friends for drinks.
Sunday: long lay in, may running or gym, see family, general jobs indoors, get sorted for the week ahead. EVE: drinks and food at home and TV/films either with/without DH
If it was sunny and hot then I would be in the garden all weekend in the sun. We would have BBQs. Our neighbour has a pool which they let us use in the summer.

DC are 13 & 15

13 is the youngest teen year so not mid teen at all! 15 is mid teen.

A 13 yo I would expect to basically go where you take them. 15/16 they’re old enough to be left.

Just plan something and go. You’re blaming the kids for your lack of enthusiasm.

We don't do clothes shopping other then online, neither of us drink tea or coffee, we don't read, we have no interest in the arts/theatre/cinema/NT/gigs/long walks (due to rain anyway)/nature reserves and we don't have a dog)

Other than running or going to the beach the only hobby you’ve mentioned is watching films and television, so surely you must be interested in cinema (if not theatre), unless you only watch films your children pick or reality TV and sport? Could you look at the listing for your closest independent cinema? The main problem seems to be that you don’t have many hobbies or interests, so it’s not really surprising that you’re bored over a long weekend?

If your children wanted to go out for the day, if they were really enthusiastic about it and money was no object, what would you really like to do?

God what a non-problem. Lots of people will be working this weekend or have genuine reasons why they can’t enjoy it. You sound quite boring and dismissive, no wonder your kids would prefer to sit in front of a screen. You also don’t sound very keen to either accept advice or come up with any new ideas without putting obstacles in the way.

In my experience you need some hobbies/interests - both shared with your partner or just for you - otherwise it’s very easy to drift apart as kids get older and you find they’re the only thing you’ve got in common.

Sorry if that sounds harsh but ffs count your blessings. People have made some good suggestions, why not just try one of them?

13 & 15 year olds are too old for things like trampoline parks?? Since when?!

So you don’t like shopping, walking, cinema, theatre, museums, tea or coffee (?) … what about the other hundreds of things people have suggested OP? Bowling, crazy golf, skating, swimming, climbing, lunch?! Surely you eat lunch?!

To be honest you don’t sound bored you sound boring

Maybe it’s to branch out and try some new things, for the whole family

So your 15 year old is in their bedroom gaming but expects you to be around?

Cheeky bugger. At that age you are perfectly entitled to go out.

It would be different if they actually wanted to socialise with you.

We don't do clothes shopping other then online, neither of us drink tea or coffee, we don't read, we have no interest in the arts/theatre/cinema/NT/gigs/long walks (due to rain anyway)/nature reserves and we don't have a dog)

Tbh you sound quite boring!

Is there anything that you do like?

Tbh, Friday night I just wanna piss off to the pub with DH. But a bit meh just the two of us.

Why are you 'meh' about the idea of going to the pub just you and your DH? My kids are still small so being able to spontaneously go out for a drink with DH without having to sort a babysitter sounds like absolute bliss to me! I don't understand why you'd marry someone whose company you don't enjoy enough to look forward to an evening out just the two of you.

To be honest, OP you sound as though you're feeling "meh" about everything generally. You don't want to be stuck inside but you don't want to go out and do anything. You bemoan the fact that your DC have no interests or desire to go anywhere, but you don't seem to have any yourself. You want to go to the pub, but you don't want to go with your DH. You clearly don't know what you want.

Difficult age. Too young to be left but they won't go out to do stuff. I had this. It's was annoying for a few years.

13 and 15 is not too young to be left. You don't have to go on a 10 hour road trip, but you could comfortably go out for 5/6 hours at that time. There are loads of things you could do.