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Parenting

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Original poster

We dont do any classes on the weekend

25 replies

belhamwalk · 03/02/2018 10:48

hey guys, our kids are 5 and 3 and we don't do anything on the weekends with them. I'm sitting here in my pjs listening to the rain while everyone else is on their pjs (except my younger son who spends all his time naked..) the thing is, everyone else i know takes their kids to ballet, football, cello lessons, Tai-kwando and Advanced Origami making on saturdays.... what do you reckon? Are we child-abusers?

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Ilovecamping · 03/02/2018 10:49

If you all are happy don't worry about it, sometimes it's nice to do nothing.

Quickerthanavicar · 03/02/2018 10:49

You have won at parenting. Make yourself another coffee and be smug for a few moments.

Gekkoforprimeminister · 03/02/2018 10:50

It's completely your choice, neither good nor bad just the way you choose to love your life. As long as you're not stopping the kids doing something they're desperate to do.
I personally like to keep busy and don't like sitting around the house, but it's your life, your choice.

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Thethingswedoforlove · 03/02/2018 10:51

We have never done any weekend classes either. My dds now 12 and 10. My mental health wouldn’t have coped with another day when we had to rush out of the door in the morning. They tend to do homework and exercise on a Saturday morning now. I am sure they would have loved to have done more clubs but having still sane parents is probably even better!! Do what works for your family. You can always change your mind when they are both at school or whatever or if they show a great desire to embark on a new activity....

boatyardblues · 03/02/2018 10:51

We are the same. Sometimes I feel bad for my kids, but they have developed their own interests. When they get bored of TV or the Playstation, they start building machines or doing art without is needing to stand over them. DS2 independently researches things he’s interested in and watches YouTube videos. He’s got a frightening amount of knowledge about some topics.

MyDcAreMarvel · 03/02/2018 10:52

I don't understand weekend classes. Weekdays are so scheduled, weekends are for relaxing and spontaneous days out.

Crazycatladyx5 · 03/02/2018 10:58

I preferred to do the clssses through the week & keep Saturday's & Sunday's free for days out, nice long dog walks, bike rides, cinema trip, family swim....on rainy days...films, creative activities, story & loads of small world imaginary play - my daughters fave. Sometimes play dates.
I teach in a middle class school where the kids do loads of classes & activities through the week & the weekend. I wonder when they find time to just play.
But it's up to each family to do what suits them.
Enjoy your weekend.

RumAppleGinger · 03/02/2018 10:59

Same here. Thankfully neither of my kids have shown any interest in football because the thought of standing shivering in the rain in a sat/Sun morning instead of lazing in my jim jams mainlining coffee chills me.

Swimming lessons, music lessons and sports are scheduled for after school so weekends can be spent doing as much or little as we like.

Original poster

belhamwalk · 03/02/2018 11:01

Right-o. As i was! I just can't imagine rushing out of the house on the weekend. Great for some, but not for me. Just checking I wasn't ruining my kids future... :)

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Girlsworld92 · 03/02/2018 11:02

Enjoy it. They might be interested in a few years they might not. I didn't do any as a kid. My daughter does have one on a sat but didn't want to go today. They don't need to be rushing around all the time.

CappuccinoCake · 03/02/2018 11:04

Not everyone can do swimming etc during the week if they're at work/childcare to dragging other siblings round with them so weekend becomes a good time to fit them in for some.

Efferlunt · 03/02/2018 11:05

Mine would complain a lot if we had to drag them somewhere for 9am on a Saturday morning. What’s wrong with a bit of unstructured boredom?

WeaselsRising · 03/02/2018 11:06

I used to deliberately keep weekends free and do all activities in the week. Unfortunately when they get older the bulk of things seem to be Saturday mornings.

Currently waiting for DD 10 to finish her climbing lesson prior to dashing off to drama this afternoon. At least they are term time only so we get a break every 6 weeks or so.

mrsplum2015 · 03/02/2018 11:13

I had that rule and it was probably fine until oldest dc was about 7. Then sadly things fell on the weekend that she wanted to do and I thought would be good and I wasn't dogmatic enough to stick to my rule! It does also help with multiple dc to have an extra pair of hands to supervise younger ones while driving/supervising and for us that has always been weekend as dh has office hours type work.

We weren't really similar to you though as we both like to be out and about walking bike riding swimming day trips and seeing friends! We probably enjoy more duvet days now they're older (dd is 13) as the dc are more resistant to going out and about, they self impose down time!

wendz86 · 03/02/2018 11:34

I only take my daughter to dance classes on a sat as it only runs on a Friday and Saturday and we do swimming Friday . I dong really mind taking her as it burns off some energy and keeps her entertained .

mindutopia · 03/02/2018 16:10

We absolutely avoid any scheduled activities on the weekends. Realistically, we work a lot of weekends in the summer as we have a business that requires weekend hours, and I sometimes travel for work on the weekends and it would just be a hassle and we'd miss it a lot for at least 4 months out of the year. But also weekends are family time. My dh and I rarely do any scheduled activities ourselves on the weekend other than work and we like it that way. We're busy enough. We don't need to be busy all weekend too.

onetwothreefour5 · 03/02/2018 16:58

How's this then we don't do any classes on weekdays either. In fact my DS has never even set foot in any "class", I just don't get them, is it for the parents or the kids?

Steeley113 · 03/02/2018 17:13

We don’t, and we only do swimming on a week day too. I don’t know how people find the time to do all these classes, work, see family and friends, shop, homework, keep the house clean and laundry up to date. Let alone have time to chill and relax!

CappuccinoCake · 03/02/2018 17:24

Seriously one? I understand people choosing not to do any activities, that's fine. But why would doing a sport or leaning to dance or swim or pkay an instrument or go to scouts be "for the parents?"

Hoppinggreen · 03/02/2018 21:59

Mine are 9 and 13 and we have never done weekend classes.
All week we are rushing around and passing each other as we rush in and out of the house so at weekends we tend to do things together, even if that’s just hanging out in the house.
Dd often has a friend round or spends lots of time in her room but she does emerge from time to time
We are so busy all week I feel no guilt at all about the odd lazy weekend

TeenTimesTwo · 03/02/2018 22:03

Once DD1 stopped ballet age 9 I swore we wouldn't do any weekend classes again, and we didn't until ice skating when DD1 was 14 and did her DofE. DD2 has never had a regular weekend activity except when she did ice skating too at the same time as DD1.

Weekends were/are for homework, and doing fun stuff. Not for rushing up to get to extra curricular activities.

(Probably helped by neither DD being sporty).

Eilasor · 03/02/2018 22:30

We do all our activities on week days. Weekends are 100% for family/wearing pyjamas late into the day/getting muddy or sweaty for no reason. Not organised activity. --

The only thing we do at weekends is language work. Dc speak 3 (partially 4) languages simply due to our family heritage so their language skills are quite far behind average for their age (5/6) which we know isn't fair on them, we just want them to understand our family when they talk. sometimes this is just watching Octonaughts in german though).

Op, there's nothing better than a Sunday in pjs in front of the tv. We get up at 6 still so it's a looooong day of it for us, but I bloody love it.

JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff · 05/02/2018 18:29

Shrug.

DD is 3 and has done swimming every weekend since 5mos old - Sat morning at 8.30 - and French since around 15mos.

She enjoys both and is learning vital life skills (imo). It is definitely not 'for her parents' as actually I'd like not to be getting up at 6.50am on a Saturday after a full on week at work but there you are.

Do what suits you! More space in classes for my DC if you don't bother

mumof2sarah · 05/02/2018 18:33

I'm the exact same OP we did do ballet for a while at a weekend but DD hated having to rush about an extra morning. We never make plans for anything before lunch time on a weekend and we love it x

timshortfforthalia · 05/02/2018 18:41

We didn't do anything til mine were maybe seven and eight. My two are close in age and would just spend days playing and hanging out in pjs, or playing with neighbors.

Then eighteen months ago ds joined a football club, training Saturday, game Sunday. He since left, and hes so much happier. He loves playing football but teally needed the head space and downtime.

He does 5k parkrun most Saturdays, and still kicks football around. But nothing structured.

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