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?

Careful. My post got deleted for only saying precisely this.

the real world, my dear, is the world we are living in right now, not your vision of the world as you remember but conveniently forgot some very important details to fit your narrative.

Or maybe, it's your real world where posters living at the time complain about being awfully bored and dreading weekends because they were doing nothing and only knew boredom while mummy was cooking and cleaning and daddy napping on the sofa 😂

If that was their experience, thank god they moved on from that and have an interesting life for their children.

Grand ideas are funny, just completely ridiculous and not appropriate for actual kids.

I think you have projection issues, judging from your rather rude response.

I am sorry that I obviously touched a nerve with you

The thing about social media is, @Ranoutofideasfortheelves - say you’re following 30 friends on Instagram (and it’s probably more than 30 let’s be honest). Out of those 30, 15 might have a quieter weekend like you had this weekend- and they don’t post anything about it. Out of the other 15, they have a busier weekend- some of them, maybe 10, usually have a quiet weekend but have had a one-off long awaited big plan this weekend such as seeing Santa, going to a light trail, going to the pantomime. They post about it this weekend but hadnt done anything last weekend and won’t again next weekend. The other 5 are maybe the busy types who do something every weekend. But when you scroll through Instagram while relaxing in the evening, you see those 15 people who have done something big this weekend and in your head “everyone” is doing “loads”. When actually some people are doing some things.

No true, it didn’t say that you’re right- and of course you could have been making chilli and lasagne and walking the dog with/ for an arsehole of a husband.

It’s just the juxtaposition of the cosy, homely activities you describe against the social media instagram stuff - it’s just so peak mumsnet.

For the record your weekend DOES sound lovely and it’s perfectly possible that the amazing looking activities that get posted do not accurately reflect what’s going on in those people’s lives. I’ve done it myself - posted some pictures that look amazing from what was actually an incredibly stressful day. I’ve also posted things that look amazing because they actually were amazing. But we also have a lot of weekends where the most exciting thing is a trip to the park and that’s just so normal that it’s really hard to believe you genuinely thought NOBODY has quieter and less expensive weekends anymore or that your DD really is genuinely missing out. But if you really did think that then hopefully there’s been enough people telling you otherwise to reassure you.

Normal weekend I'd say... I'm not on Instagram so can't really see what people are up to there.

Teenagers…? :-)

@AmateurDad they will always be little boys in my head lol .i should correct it to young men....🤣

@Ranoutofideasfortheelves

do you ever go out with your friends at the weekend, OP? @Ranoutofideasfortheelves

I’d want my partner to do more to be honest!

Sounds very much a normal weekend. Avoid SM as it's not always truthful

Sometimes with the kids but not for a while

Yep

We grew up in a rural area next to the beach. Everything we did was either outdoors on the beach, mountains or forest. It was a lovely childhood. Today everything is too commercialised. Social media doesn’t give a true perspective. My kids get overwhelmed and it’s all too much. I much prefer to have a slower type of weekend as you describe. Plus they need down time when they have been at school all week. Nothing wrong with planning a visit to Santa or a nice day out ad hoc but trying to pack stuff into every weekend is too much.

@Ranoutofideasfortheelves

Then you need to start! And see your mates without the kids. Adult time which isn’t child oriented is good to have. A weekend doesn’t need to be 100% family time

Exactly my thoughts 😂😂

I actually thought the post was describing the smug performance instagram posts, so to me it was very performative
besides, chilli and lasagne in one weekend is double mince

@bittertwisted

double mince….so what??

It's your phrases "Why don't more do it though?" and "...wondering if lots still do what we did?" that's getting to people, OP.

Of course you know that other people "do that". That's what makes it seem like the post was fishing for validation. The question wasn't a question at all, but a request for people to say "Yes, and it's the best, those people on Instagram are missing something".

If you really did post what you did in good faith, it's helpful (for your future interactions with other people) that you figure out that it comes across this way to a decent proportion of your audience.

Ok thanks

Last month I blew the budget taking our DDs and DD's best friend to one of the European Christmas markets. It was fabulous. Magical. Making memories yadda yadda yadda.

Last weekend DD and I spent most of it in PJs, eating chocolate and watching Hallmark films.

Both experiences lovely in their own way. It's perfectly possible to do both and enjoy both equally.

Out of interest which market did you go to @Arraminta and would you recommend?
(Never done one and interested if it’s worth it)

Double mince?! 😂😂😂

I love chilli and lasagne
perhaps double mince was something on my Mum’s not acceptable list, like watching ITV