Does anyone have weekends like this anymore?

[Ranoutofideasfortheelves]

Friday night, got in, made chilli and nachos, fire on, throws on, pjs on, dh, me, dd (7) and ddog on the sofa watching films
Saturday, Dd did colouring in the morning, had pancakes, then her friend came to play, then she went to theirs for a few hours. I watched xmas films and sewed a top, Dh messed about on his computer.
I made lasagna and Dd came home, we had a dance to Christmas music then watched Home alone and bed.
Today we took ddog out to the woods, dd did clay, we made chocolate Christmas tree biscuits and played with her elves, played in the garden on the trampoline with the elves, had a roast, bath, fire, stories & bed.

Just been looking at Instagram etc and so many posts of visits to cities, girls nights out, santa spectacular shows, Lapland, London visits etc and just feeling a bit 😬
We will do a few Christmas outings for sure, but don’t seem half as busy (or wealthy)as lots of people. I remember lots of weekends as a kid being slow, but I was perfectly happy. We definitely do a lot more with Dd than I did as a kid, but do most of you do these kind of outings most weekends? Is Dd missing out?

See through what? She’s just sharing her weekend which looked like a nice cosy weekend.

i wouldn’t want to do the same thing every weekend but it sounded nice

why do people have to cause a fight on here?! Like the poster who asked if she always does the cooking. That’s a loaded question to cause a pile on.

You sound nice….

Go and find another thread then if it’s really that bad.

I think some of what's been said on this thread re OP supposedly being 'smug' is ridiculous. It's like some people just have to snipe and be snide, and if there's nothing to snipe at they'll invent something. What a waste of everyone's time including their own.

The oldest is 11 (girl) and the youngest is 8.

Wasn't sure how to vote but that is a lovely, quality weekend.

My weekends are slightly different, I live on my own and every other Saturday I visit DS 14, sometimes with DM. Last Saturday we went to McDonald's and the cinema, next time we want to do something Christmassy as it'll be the last one before Christmas. When my DC were at home we did Winter Wonderland every year but that was it.

Stealth boast 😂Sounds like a perfect weekend.

huh?

I don't want to have a go at the OP, but all they've done is pretty much watch tv all weekend and cook 😂

In a month when most families are either packing for their Christmas holidays,and/ or running from one kids party to another party and going to all the usual Panto/ Grotto/ Christmas days out, you really can't see why someone would feel they don't do much?

Nothing stops YOU from doing exactly the same, stay in your pjs and watch tv, how hard can that be?

Of all the posters to be jealous of, this is the most bizarre one. You are on MN, so I am sure you are able to watch movies from home 😂

I'll take yours any day!

Oh dam, we only had 2 hours to practice our Guatemalan nose fluts before putting on our hand knitted organic gnats wool jumpers , if only I could take my daughter to aldi to sit in the car while I spend my benefits on shite , like other people , feel soooooooo inadequate!

Previous posters have explained exactly what it is in the original post that feels smug. It's not the activities. It's the loving husband, the crackling fire, the cosy snuggling up watching Christmas films before tucking into the hearty home made lasagne etc etc.

It's exactly the type of thing written to appeal to mumsnet sensibility that hates anything they deem as tacky, commercial, any newfangled Christmas traditions which are, shock horror, 'Americanised'. There absolutely is a certain mumsnet sensibility that holds that children should be outside on bracing walks, they need to be 'run like dogs' (bonus, there's even a dog in the OP!) or otherwise doing quiet crafts at home. Anything else is just not the done thing you know? Notice her DD wasn't on a tablet, they were watching Christmas films which is still screen time but the acceptable, wholesome family kind. And adding in that these have been seen on Instagram is perfect, because then everyone can tell OP that every other family who does these things is only doing it for the shallow social media likes, that her weekend is actually the perfect one. And if you look, sure enough she's had plenty of those posts which is exactly what I was expecting when I opened the thread and was easy enough to predict if you hang around mumsnet too much like I do for any length of time.

I'm more surprised that people called out the possible smug tone honestly, I felt it but was only expecting the praise and social media bashing, and it's very possible that's what the OP was expecting too. I'm not saying it was deliberate, and it's a shame if it wasn't because the OP maybe did need a little bit of reassurance/ validation and it's not the worst thing in the world.

I'm at a place right now where the weekend described in the OP sounds totally normal and not particularly aspirational to me. It's not about the activities particularly. I've been through some really shitty things in the past though, and times when the weekend the OP described would have seemed like nothing short of an out of reach idyll - a loving partner, a child and a dog, food on the table and general cosiness - that's still absolutely incredible good luck in this world honestly. And of course you can post about it, I'm glad the OP has that and I'm generally happy that other people are happy, but to post about it in a 'this is all I've got, what a shame, am I really so unusual?' type way is just plain disingenuous.

A lot of those posts and pictures where families are out doing pretty things are just that, pretty, designed for the Instagram etc., I think that the majority of families will relate to. and/or envy, your weekend. When ours were small they maybe got a Santa visit in the Co-op and a pantomime between Christmas and New Year.

I disagree, where I live all the events are mostly booked up and they’re full of families having a nice time, not taking a load of photos for instragram.
When my DC were growing up we did multiple Christmas activities every year so this is normal to me.
I think lots of people do really want and need to get out at the weekend and making a lasagne etc isn’t enough for them.

There absolutely is a certain mumsnet sensibility that holds that children should be outside on bracing walks, they need to be 'run like dogs' (bonus, there's even a dog in the OP!) or otherwise doing quiet crafts at home. Anything else is just not the done thing you know?

true, but from posters who do NOT have children, or had theirs decades ago so posters with a lot of grand ideas and no clue about the real world 😂
What kids actually do like to "go on walks"? Or enjoy the National Trusts walks? even I am bored out of my head 😂

Same posters who insist that "kids must learn to be bored" after their bracing walks 😂

Back in the real world, kids go to clubs, sports, hobbies, parties and the one half day parents have free during the entire weekend is a Christmas activity and everybody is having a great time. Not punished by being stuck at home in your kitchen to be a good wifey. No one likes that.

That's why I think the posters who call the OP smug are funny but don't have a clue.

The small stuff really IS the big picture!

Surely people can do both if they have the money and want to? We have plenty of weekends like yours, but have also done London theatre and Lapland this year. People are hardly going to be Instagramming about watching Home Alone, sewing and faffing about with a computer – they post the noteworthy stuff.

true, but from posters who do NOT have children, or had theirs decades ago so posters with a lot of grand ideas and no clue about the real world 😂
What kids actually do like to "go on walks"? Or enjoy the National Trusts walks? even I am bored out of my head 😂

Please explain to me how someone who had their children decades ago 'have a lot of grand ideas but no clue about the real world'?
We've been there, done it and lived in the real world longer than you have!
Or did The Real World only start when YOU had children?

Who said my dh was loving? Do you know my situation? You have no idea about my life. I said ipads too.

I think you know precisely what your original aim was. You just got busted.

I know v few people who have ‘big city’ weekends.

Homebody is ‘in’, everyone seems to have the kind of weekend you do and be on about ‘protecting their peace’ etc

I think weekends are a bit different when you have multiple children though rather than just 1

People do weekend like this all the time, they just don't put it on Instagram 🤷

Sorry but I agree it was a little braggy, like you want everyone to say what a wonderful engaged parent you are with all the crafts and wholesome activities.

But it isn’t relaxing you? It’s stressing you out to see what others are doing and compare yourself?

Everyone is different, OP. If you are happy with your weekend and they are happy with theirs then no one is better or worse than the other.

So you stayed in this weekend. But you also have Christmas activities planned so presumably you will be out those weekends. And yet people who have posted on instagram do nothing other than go out? Well done for staying in this weekend. Hat and a balloon to you