i need help mumsnetters, specially parents of 11 year olds!

[cheeryface]

first day of the holidays , have been out with ds for a couple of hours this morning. for the last 4 hours we have been bored bored bored !

everytime i look hes back infront of the tv and i keep switching it off telling him to find something better to do. but, the truth is i dont know what he should do either!

he watched tv 7am - 9am
he played x box 9am - 10am

should i just let him play xbox and watch tv for hours in the holidays ?

we do have some things planned but there is still a hell of a lot of time to fill!

every summer i find myself getting depressed and stressed !

bike?? my ds is 11 and on it.....

is he out on it with friends though ?
ds does have a bike

First day of the hols? I don't even want to guess at how long DS spent on the Wii yesterday. It was hours. And hours. And hours. On top of the three hours of TV he watched from 7 - 10.

I figured though that the first day is time to bum around. So I'm not

Today and tomorrow he has holiday club, then we're away, then more holiday club. So he doesn't get that much mooching time, really. Which is a bit of a shame, I think.

I'm planning on letting my dd1 who will be 11 next week have 1 morning per week to have a lie in and do what she likes tv/ computer wise, the rest of the time she will be doing whatever the rest of us are doing like park & picnic, day trips, craft, play in the garden etc

If she doesn't want to do what we're doing she can read a book or play in her room.

let him watch tv all day if there is not much else going on. they need to wind down from school term and relax in whatever way it suits. As you said, you have things planned, so don't worry.

ds is going to have a ride around on his bike , great ! i know it will last all of 10 minutes though lol

Can he get some friends round to play? Can you find some summer camps for him to attend? The LA here do very cheap sport camps which he should not be too old to attend. Can he go swimming? Will he read books? My two have spent much of today reading. Or perhaps you could give him some jobs to do round the house? I am planning on getting ds1 to clear out our garden shed and greenhouse for pocket money.

Same problem here, and we've had three weeks holiday already!

I've introduced cleaning time before the TV goes on. 10 minutes gets a couple of hours tv, then no more tv until the afternoon, and then only after 10 minute cleaning.

Her bedroom is now tidy and she has found all sorts of things she "lost" which is help to occupy her.

Invite lots of other kids around, it doesn't seem to make any more work, and makes you very popular with the other mums.

Get him to jet wash the car - my DS loves that.

Can he phone some friends and meet up with them, things like bike rides, parks, etc are more enjoyable for an eleven year old if they have company.

Saturday morning cinema is only £1.00 round here if you can get him there with a friend. I drop mine off, go for a coffee and some cake then collect them on the way back (although DS is nearly 12 and this is a more recent thing). Maybe something for you to bear in mind for the weekend.

thanks for all the ideas