Just us girls for 5 days

[Onceiwassevenyearsold]

Dh is going away next week, I’ll be home alone with Dd, 6. We live abroad, so no family around, but will see friends two of the afternoons.
Any ideas what we can do for girly times together?

Camp overnight (even if it's in the garden). Make a fire/bbq and make smores and watch the stars. We used to make a tent on the trampoline.

Long walk in a forest, collect stuff, and come back and make a collage on the patio/garden. Try and make a picture if DH and send it to him.

@TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross great minds 😂

OK. Well I was a single parent mostly so everything we did was just us.

Some of the thngs my daughter liked to do.

Making pizza - make the dough, make a tomato sauce topping, prepare pizza toppings in dishes so she could design her own.

Sleep over movie night. She slept in my bed and we'd watch something dreadful that she'd chosen.

I taught her how to build a fire so she used to like to make campfires in the garden and toast marshmallows.

Camping sleepover. Pitch a small tent in the garden and both sleep in that.

Making dens. Dining chairs and bed sheets like the good old days 😉

Pack a picnic and go for a hike.

Take her away camping for a couple of days. Small tent, fairy lights, little stove.

Play music together.

Have YouTube disco.

Get some cheap terracotta plant pots and dishes and some acrylic paint and paint plant pot fairy houses.

Make rag bunting to decorate the garden.

Plant stuff in the garden.

Don't use the time to teach her that, when the men are away, women 'pamper' themselves and do their nails and face masks. There's plenty of time for her to be indoctrinated into that sort of shit. Do exciting stuff and have fun.

I would just carry on as normal and not make a big deal of it. It will be bonding just because it’s you two alone and more time to chat . I wouldn’t do the bed thing- could regret it when he gets back. She’s only 6 so just do things she normally enjoys- swimming? Hairdressers? Painting? Baking?

We used to make a tent on the trampoline.

Yes! I forgot that one!

Peg bedsheets over the top and sleep on the trampoline.

A film night, popcorn, snacks... my son used to love "camping" in the front room for the night.
A day out doing some shopping and having some cake or lunch.
If you have nice weather, a picnic in the park or even the back garden.

My DD would want to:
Build a proper den in the garden
go to a swimming pool
Go out on a stand up paddle
Climbing wall or tree-top rope obstacle
course thing
Devote and entire day to playing Lego with her
Glue gun (low temp for that age) and unlimited glue sticks
Do a craft project together like sequin picture or diamond ones

Find activities where she has to be active and strong and can get really dirty, and you do the activities with her. Show her that there’s more to being female than nails and face masks, and that she doesn’t have to sit on the sidelines looking pretty and watching boys do all the fun stuff.

❤️

What about a "sleepover" (start early and have normal beds and bedtimes!)

Start with pampering: a bath, hair wash, pjs, nails. Food: make pizzas, toast marshmallows. Then silly games like hide and seek, truth or dare, Would You Rather. Finish with a film (and a glass of wine for you!)

You think "girly times" means incompetence and babying yourself?

I take it as enjoying carefree time as you would have as a child. And sometimes that means traditionally feminine things.

Condisdering some of the comments on this thread some should be told
there is nothing wrong with enjoying traditionally feminine things. Even tomboys can enjoy it.

Awww how sweet is this 😍
When my dd was newborn and poorly in hospital I couldn't hold her much so I'd tell her the things we were going to do together.
Most of it centred around fucking up the patriarchal society in which she's been born, lots of brunch, and beach days. All the best things for my girl 😂

At 6 though I think she may prefer lots of games, adventures and crafts. Maybe less throwing yourselves under the Kings horse 😁

My dd is still a baby so I've no idea what she will enjoy doing yet, I have older sons and they're happy as long as they can run and be fed.

Oh gosh, Uno. Lots of bloody Uno mine want when dad isn't home.
So much Uno I've been known to hide Uno 😂

I hope you have a lovely time together ❤️

If it rubs you up so bad,y you need some bloody therapy. How rude of you and other posters. If you don’t like vanilla posts go post on the nasty threads.

God not pampering for a 6 year old, please!!’

There is nothing at all wrong with doing activities normally seen as 'girl-coded'. It isn't the slightest bit feminist to denigrate them and elevate things that are socially linked with boys, it's internalised misogyny. It is the girl part that is being attacked - if boys were associated with face packs and girls with tree-climbing, you can guarantee tree-climbing would be ripped to shreds.

Anyway, painting her nails then going out for cake so she can show them off a bit might be nice. Go to a local city farm to see the ponies. Mine used to love taking over a room with her barbie dolls and breyer horses at that age so if she likes playing with dolls it might be a special treat to let her do some major world-building and leave them out overnight to carry on with the next day. Buy or make some slushies and break out the Frozen dvd and sing along at the top of your voices, or watch one of the live shows that Disney Cruise Ships have put on YouTube - their Frozen is great but Tangled looks like the cartoon come to life. Have a lovely time!

When my DH is away we do things that he doesn’t like to do, eg, watch TV programmes only we like, eat things for dinner that we don’t usually have because he doesn’t like them.

Also-

Go to the cinema, buy a new Lego set and do it together, get some crafts and do it together. Make a picnic lunch together, shop for the ingredients with input from her and go somewhere nice to have it.

Bodyboarding is a fun 1-1 activity if you're within travelling distance of a beach.

Yep you got it. Like the parents who refuse to dress their girls in pink or dresses because they think it's misogynistic. What's misogynistic is avoiding things that are associated with girls. Let your kids wear what they want, play what they want and be who they want to be.

God some people are so bloody miserable and unnecessarily nasty! I think this is lovely, I was a bit of a tomboy too, these are some things I used to love:

Theme parks - there's bound to be one close by
Something simple like take a football and picnic to the park and climb some trees!
Miniature golf
Canoeing
Go ape (the children's course will be perfect for a six year old and they have fab zip lines!)
Trampoline park
Have a cinema night, get some cheap popcorn/snacks holders from Amazon and pop a mattress and duvet in the lounge. My dad used to print off pretend cinema passes and I loved it!
Cooking - could you Google some child friendly baking and let her pick something you could both make
Make pizzas, get some pre made pizza bases and get loads of toppings
Summer fetes - you might have some in your area over the holiday
Local safari park - the ones where you can drive round and feed the animals as you go

God I love all this stuff I can't wait to do this stuff with my little boy lol

From my perspective that's what people here are saying. Don't force her into some kind of gender box and do things young kids enjoy.

I didn't wear dresses or pink as a 6 year old. I was brought up in a rural area and spent my time outdoors, camping, swimming, going on walks and making dens. I got into things like face packs and nail polish when I was a teenager. I hated shopping and still do.

We don't know what her daughter likes or even what's available in the area. I'm sure some little girls would love to sit around with a face pack on and watch Frozen but others might prefer camping or crafting or reading or playing with Lego.

I’d ask her what she might like to do - waterparks/theme parks geared at younger kids can be great for a day out if you have good weather where you are. Perhaps have a ‘no reason’ party/playdate with 3-4 of her friends as Dad isn’t around to be stressed by it - they could do some baking or messy craft activities? A trip to the cinema to see a family movie and eat lots of icecream? Or to a farm?

I wouldn’t go large, so to speak, maybe one big special event/day out and then a few special things that you’d not normally do if dad was around.

Some of these responses - jog on honestly!! I am a proud and strong adult woman but still have girly weekends with my daughter. Some people have the biggest chips on their shoulders!

Onto the subject matter - dance parties!! My DD loves them, put on any kind of music and dance around your living room. Sleepover - camp out on your sofa for the night with a movie and snacks. Go out and have fun together - trampolining, see a movie, put together a book where you have to go to a local park or nature trail and find certain things to stick in.

Can I just say that it is still ok to be a woman who enjoys face masks and nails painting? Stop making the mistake of assuming 'boys have all the fun' by getting dirty and going wild. There's plenty of little boys who like playing dress up. Stop shaming women for wanting to be feminine the same way you might not want to be. It's fecking exhausting living among these opinions.

Why would dad be stressed by a party more than mum? Why would there be things you wouldn’t normally do if dad was around? I genuinely don’t get it.

My 5 year old is just getting excited about going out for a "grown up" lunch/dinner, just the two of us so perhaps she would enjoy that.

Thank goodness for sensical speaking. Well done 👏

FFS