Esther Rantzen thinks that children don't have enough time to 'just play' - how often do yours 'just play'?

[Enid]

Mine muck about around the house and garden every day after school (7 year old finishes at 3, 4 year old finishes at 1.30), except Tuesdays (7 year old - riding) and Fridays (both ballet, 7 year old swimming). Saturday mornings the 4 year old goes swimming and the 7 year old sees her reading tutor. No other organised activities except playdates.

On average I'd say they have at least an hour and half - 2 hours a day after school on a weekday, allowing for dinner and homework, plus all weekend. Last week (half term) they "just played" pretty much all week.

My dd spent 4 out of the 5 week days JUST PLAYING while I sat on the sofa and MNed and ate biscuits !

But seriously - I work full time and she does clubs after school every day (until 5 three days and until 4 one day) - on the other day I take her to an external gym club ! So we are rarely home before 5.15pm any day and she then plays until bedtime - apart form doing her homework of course.

At weekends she never wants to go out as she always wants to play !

I do feel bad that I don't have friends over that often - but the schedule doesn't really allow it at the moment !

all day every day, but then they are 10 months and 2 years

Most of the time.

Nothing as yet organised as they're still pretty young - 3 and 1 - outside nursery for the 3-year-old.

Does SALT and OT count?

Mine seem to just play the whole time. They are still very young (nearly 5 and 3) and I'm a bit "against" organized activities at this stage (apart from school and nursery). Basically, I'm lazy

one of my best friends children does
piano then flute then running club on one night- too much

they do activities every night including riding 5 miles away twice a week and football 7 miles away once a week

my friend is always in the car
dinner is always after 9
the girls are always shattered

my friend is a wee bit eccentric though

[narrows eyes]

the only organised activity here is that dd1 goes to brownies on a monday evening.

thats it.

the rest of the time they play and do their homework, or veg out.

SSS - don't know what Esther Rantzen knows that most don't - she is often churned out to bang on about childhood but find her 'opinions' rather commensenisical. I suppose she fills air time.

I suspect the wealthier a family is the more over-scheduled the kids tend to get, one imagines Rantzen is not socialising with truly ordinary families.

When threads on MN ask "what activities do your children do" most children do MUCH more than is getting mentioned on this thread -- [confused emoticon].

I have 3 DC and just one of them does even one regular weekly activity outside of school. DC do little else ad hoc or scheduled.

I have to duck my head when other parents say "It's fitting it all in!" like their DC are so very busy and can't find time for all their clubs, sport, activities, parties, play dates, etc.

btw do you have a link to her comments?

Thanks BBB

Ds has swimming on a monday and multiskills (5 weeks only) on Thursday. From September rugby season starts again and that is on a sunday. HE has play dates and plays everyday and every opportunity

what is multiskills? sounds stressful!

she's had a makeover recently, hasn't she (Esther that is). New hair, new clothes etc.

It will be first one on Thursday. Not stressful - playing ball games, chase, rounders etc. All diff kinds of sports.

I dont like Esther.. whne i was a 15 I was very silly and snuck out to a party. Some dope (older man ) was at this party and he put bottle of vodka into bottle of cider. I stupidly drank it along with wine too. TOtally niave then. Ended up in hosptial very poorly with alchohol poisoning. Esther visited the ward i was on and was very hostile to me. I understand now that she prob though i was some horrible yob but still..

How mean of her awen.

isnt she about 96 now?

certainly feels like she's been on TV that long

DS is 6 and at school, and with CM 3 days a week after school until 5.15. DD is 3 and at day nursery 3 days a week until 5.15. Organised activities are DS swimming at 5.30 on a Tuesday, DD swimming at 10 on a Friday, DD dancing 9.30-10.30 on a Saturday and I am looking to arrange something footballwise for DS. Also DS goes to artclub after school on a Weds until 4.15. With the CM he plays on the rec a lot in the decent weather, but she has up to 3 other mindees from his Y1 class as well so playmates available. We often swap/mix with my friend who has DS and DD same age on days I am not working.

I don't intend on being a chauffeur for my kids activities, they can have one or two but christ, every day? They'd turn into attention craving boredom monsters everytime we weren't on our way to some organised event.

I want them to do some kind of sporty active thing, and probably one fun expressive thing like a musical instrument or something. Past that, they can use their imaginations, their friends and their toys like we had to.

This thread is a huge relief. Loads of MNers seem to do activities all bloomin' week.

DD1 does an after school dance class, and they both do a swimming class. Otherwise they do an awful lot of Hanging Around Doing Buggerall.

ds 7 does nothing - oh no he does half an hour of cricket after schoolon thurs if he feels like it

dd 4 does half an hour of ballet

they need all the rest of the time inorder to play with the amazing amount of stuff that has accumilated - bad enough living with it but living with it and it not being played with would be uber-annoying!

MI: let me put your mind at rest. The DDs really do absolutely nothing. DD1 used to do a ballet class on Saturday morning but the 30 minute break with a book and a particularly nasty cup of coffee in no way compensated for having to get everyone up and out on time and so we cancelled it. DD2 currently has a mid-afternoon ballet class, but that will stop once she starts school. They have a few play-dates during the week (doing nothing with friends) and the normal slew of parties at the weekends, but beyond that no clubs, no lessons and no other organised activities.

I know, I really know we ought to take them to swimming lessons, but I can't face all that 'process' on a cold raw Saturday morning in February. I also think that they may make much better progress going every day for a week in the Summer on some kind of 'swimming camp'.