If you're single and childless what do you do at the weekend?

[Britishsummertime22]

Finding weekends tough.

Dying to know what "a French exit" is! Please tell me it's sneaking out before they wake up!

I work every sat too. Have always worked shifts, and really enjoy days off in the week. Everything is quiter, shops etc...

Yes.
Or trying to most men sleep like logs anyway.
Then home shower pjs on fall asleep with netflix.
Good times.

Ooh

I am single and childless OP, mine is a long term situation and I am at peace with it, but even I still experience the crushing loneliness it sounds like you are feeling.

Exercise is so important to well-being so do try and do something active. I started doing fitness classes, even though I hadn't enjoyed them before, but I got as much out of them for the human contact as the exercise. You get to know the regulars and just that little chat and a joke is a lift.

Take pride in your surroundings. It's easy to let things domestic stuff slide but having a nice environment, made nice by you and for you, can be soothing.

Volunteering at parkrun is a great way to start the weekend if it's stretching out ahead of you like a void. There's human interaction, and if you make yourself cheer people on, you can't help but feel brighter yourself.

Make plans for weekends away. Having something to look forward to is important, and breaks up a 'run' of weekends. Spending time planning the itinerary is fun too.

Good luck and carpe diem OP!

I've been single and childless and originally said what I do being childless. Then I read the title again and made the second comment because to be fair comprehension on MN isn't in the top 5 of understanding information. I slipped up this time.

Okay - my bad! Happy to concede that some people get drunk every Friday and Saturday night and spend all day nursing hangovers! I was projecting my personal experience - I went out Thursday, Friday and Saturday night in my teens but don’t do that more I am much older and I sometimes find weekend days lonely and empty. I am lucky if I get a wild drunk night out every other month! But nothing wrong with getting pissed every Friday and Saturday night at any age.

sorry to have offended. I just thought OP was feeling lonely and wanted more day time stuff.

But, to be honest a lot of the time I would cry on my sofa and drink wine and eat pringles until I passed put in front of the telly. It wasn't a great time for me. I understand and I totally sympathise ❤️

Are you me? Ive done this twice this week. I totally understand OP i am long term single and childless. My friends have semi cut me off. Have a dog who i love very much but is hard work and he makes me feel lonelier because i have to deal with him alone... even walking him is lonely. Im on the brink of falling back intodepression due to loneliness so i am taking this thread as a push to motivate me to add to my life and it enrich it.

How many are 'lots' really though? You have to live your life!

Yeah, I don't have any single friends. I only have a couple of friends and at the weekends they spend time with their partners and children.

I've never been the type to sit and cry at home because I'm not in a relationship. I cry because I literally have nobody I can truly rely on, chat chat about how I feel or who will go for a coffee with me. That's what tears me apart.

nobody to chat to

@Britishsummertime22 its tough isn’t it?

you have got some great advice here - plus me taking this all way to personally and taking over the thread! Sorry - it just all cut very close this weekend. 🥲.

i am a real people person, and I have had to teach myself to be comfortable being alone. And that being alone doesn’t have to mean you are lonely.

it’s easy to get into bad habits. This weekend I took myself out for a cycle and then took my parents to a nice restaurant. Today has been a bit slower - hence the obsession on mumsnet😂. I habit I will have to kick.

I hope you are okay😊

Wonderful post

No, it's totally hypothetical. It's not necessarily like that when you're actually single.

I used to pack my weekends seeing family, booking tickets for a show or exhibition at a museum or gallery, or going on guided tours and walks, and good restaurants. Arrange to see friends but don’t be afraid of doing things alone. Potter about visiting places you’ve not been to, poking around bookshops and antique shops. Try a church if that’s your thing. Concerts, country walks. Swimming. All things I did at the weekends when single.

The world is your oyster.

@CobaltQueen 💐 for you. I hope you don’t feel alone.

Threetrees745 you explained it far better than I could. It is soul crushing. I am 41, been on my own for a long time. I've always wanted a partner and children but it never happened but has happened for all of my friends and family. Unless you have experienced it it's hard to explain how lonely and just sad it is to not be special to anyone, to not have anyone to ask about your day or even notice if you get home or not and when it comes to the weekend, to hear all about your colleagues plans with their partner and children knowing you will spend another weekend alone.

I do feel extremely alone and pointless @VestaTilley .
Hasn't helped my mood looking on twitter and seeing a 42 year old lady talking about her single and childless life and everyone judging her in the comments. 😔

Hi, I totally agree. I've been there! My response was in a jovial manner. Best wishes

I get it. I have friends but nobody wants to spend the weekends together: that’s family time. So I keep busy in the week and try to model weekends as rest and relaxation time.

I do a gym class, get out in my bike, DIY and gardening, batch cook and prep salads for the week ahead, visit galleries and go to the cinema.

Oh ok, sarcasm? I did wonder.

I do most of those things single. I don't surf or learn an instrument (i do language classes i stead,) and I'm not currently doing European minibreaks after being out if work for over a year. But I do lots of galleries and museums, yoga, swimming, the odd bit of writing, gardening. It's not hypothetical at all, if you don't want it to be.

All the "Ooh you don't know how lucky you are, I wish I were single!" surely realise that they could...be single. Any takers?

I think you are expressing yourself very well. And expressing the loneliness of being single and childless in your 40s/50s very well too. Yes, occasionally you can meet your friends (and look forward to and appreciate that very much), but at this age most of your friends have their own partners and family, so seeing them takes arrangements and for them to be able to be free. So whilst that is something to look forward to, it does not cover the every day weekend, when your friends are busy with their own families and you wonder how to fill 2 whole days by yourself, weekend loneliness just somehow makes you feel very alone. Personally I try the gym and a walk, but there are still times on a Saturday afternoon when I look ahead and wonder how I am going to fill all those unforgiving minutes with no one to share it with and just myself to talk to. Of course we all survive but “get drunk with friends” “go for lunch with friends” “I have a husband dog and 5 kids, I’d love 5 minutes to myself” just doesn’t really get it.