How do you find time to have fun at the weekend?

[oneplusone]

I have been feeling for a while that our weekends are all work and no play. We seem to spend the whole time doing household chores, cooking, gardening etc etc and yes, in between we do play with the DC's, pop out to the park etc, but I don't feel we ever really do things as a family.

I think unless we plan that we'll have a day out as a family at the weekend every weekend will go by without us really doing anything.

What do you all do at the weekend? We don't have family nearby and friends are a bit thin on the ground as we've just moved to a new area and it's taking time to make friends. So usually it's just me, DH, DD and DS, all on our lonesome at home.

The great thing about chores is that they always wait for you Besides if you do the dusting today it'll only need doing again before you know it - have a day off

We don't have many friends around either but we've fallen into a bit of a pattern where Saturday morning is chores and errands, Sunday morning is just slobbing around or maybe going to the farmers market. However the afternoons are almost always a trip out - as lapin says park / beach etc.

We just involve the children in whatever we're doing. Have a 2-year-old and a 6-week-old. We've been gardening with dd while ds sleeps in the shade. dp and dd are currently mowing the lawn while I sneakily mumsnet feed the baby - dp has his flymo and dd has her bubble mower. We all walk the dog together and either go out for lunch or have fun family lunch (had a picnic today - sandwiches in the garden).

And often we say "stuff the housework" and go and do something more fun. Have you tried lowering your standards regarding tidyness and hygene?

We always go out somewhere on the weekend but I'm a SAHM so chores get done in the week. We don't have family nearby and I never call on friends as I quite like that weekends are just the four of us.

Today we only went to a country park for a few hours, DD is asleep so DH is gardening with DS and I'm mumsnetting tidying

When DD wakes we'll just play in the garden until it's time for dinner.

snap BroccoliSpears

Glad to see you kept the name SquifyyHock!

Chores never come before family time. We try and make sure we tidy friday night to the weekend is relatively free. If nothing is planned we go walking. So yesterday had some time at the beach and went to the fair in the day. Today dd had horse riding and we are about to go walking. Helps that we have a dog so we have to go out.

Prioritise fun! Something has got to give sometimes. You can't always be on top of all your chores and DIY and have fun. Just not possible. Sometimes we just say 'sod the housework/garden/everything sensible and boring' and go out for the day / slob around the house. In fact, we do that more often than we keep up with the chores . No point having spotless house and pretty garden if you never have any fun.

Oneplusone the chores will still be there when the dc have left home - enjoy the time now and do just one or two essential chores at the weekend.

I get up a little earlier and go out in the moning with my dd, then when we have been and done something nice and come home then I tackle a chore or two.

Cycle ride and picnic this morning - mow the lawn this afternoon whilst dd had a neihbour to play.

There is always time for fun, and you don't have to go out to have fun either.
life's too short to spend family time doing housework, housework does not add to the bank of memories that we make for our kids.

can you tell i don't like housework it is way down on the priority list for me.

Lol Squiffy

We usually do one thing together as a family (walk, swimming etc).
Like everyone else on this thread, chores definitely take a back seat.

I agree with onlyjoking, there is always time for fun.

Housework is not essential, or at least, nothing but the bare minimum is essential, and can always be dropped in favou rof some fum.

I don't really distinguish between 'fun family time' and jobs that need doing around the house though, if something needs doing DS invariably helps, or gets on with something else while I do it.

Not all family fun needs to be organised or have everyone involved. It is very valuable for children to be given the opportunity to play on their own, without adult interference. I call it a succesful saturday morning if I've tidied and cleaned the house or read a book or mumsnetted while DS is totally absorbed in some game he's playing on his own in the garden.

Also, I will always put having fun ahead of life admin, and make sure I get a chance to do things I consider fun, not just trapse around after DS as he does fun things.

And anything can be turned into something you all do together as a family, or at least something you involve DS in, housework, gardening, cooking etc etc. there doesn't have to be a seperation of these things from 'play' or 'fun'.

I agree (although still not sure how to make cleaning the toilet fun!)

We went to the gardens around Sandringham the other day then to their car museum, then lunch in a pub garden which had a climbing frame& slide.
DS keeps asking when we're going back to the queen's house to see all the flowers which astounds me as 1.) i never thought i'd take my kids to stately homes and 2.) i never thought they'd enjoy it!
he also likes walking in the woods.

Lucycat It's much more me dahling

I try to tidy up on Friday evening as I hate waking up on Saturday to mess, I do all 'admin' type chores on the commute to work. Stick a load of washing in the machine on your way out and hang it up when you get home or after DCs are asleep.

on saturday we all go swimming in the morning (dh, me, dd (4) and ds (1 1/2) and then back home for ds's nap. After he wakes up we go out somewhere for lunch/dinner (depending on when he wakes up). We have a lazier day on a Sunday and we either putter about in the house/garden or sometimes go and visit my mum. Housework is way down my list of priorities (which is why the house is a pit )

Here here OJ. xx

We try and do stuff each weekend. Actually, DD dictates that we do. DD does ballet on a saturday, its a bit of an awkward time but she loves it. Then we either do food shopping or look around the shops. Sometimes we visit the in-laws. Today, i took DD swiming in the morning while DP tidied his shed, then we went out for a walk with the dog - DD too tired and tetchy though so went to the swings on the way home.

This is a bit puke-tastic, but it is so true.

Babies Don't Keep

I hope my children will look back on today
And see a mother who had time to play.
There will be years for cleaning and cooking
But children grow up while we're not looking.
Dusting and scrubbing can wait 'till tomorrow
For babies grow fast we learn to our sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

We have the opposite problem. We try and do so much at weekends that we don't have time to fit the chores in!

Seriously, at weekends, we put having fun as a family first. Chores fit in round the edges - during the week, and Dh does some ironing either in the morning or evening of one dy at weekend.

So this weekend:

Saturday - town to get Father's Day presents; lunch whilst out, trip to toy shop to look around, home to play on trampoline and drink wine, and nibbles in garden.

Sunday - party this morning; school treasure hunt in afternoon; BBQ at friend's this evening.

Our weekends are always full!

I get most chores done in the week so weekends are free.
The day to day stuff (loading dishwasher, tidying etc) we try to blitz in an hour in the morning while the boys watch a bit of tv, Then the rest of the day is free for family time. We go out somewhere most weekend days unless we're tackling a big job like the gardening and then the boys help.