If your child is an only what do they do after school

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Hi
I am a bit concerned about my 7 year old ds who is an only as all he basically wants to do when he comes home from school is either watch telly or play on his wii.
I am a little concerned that he is leading an lonely life as we don,t have cousins of his age to play with and I don,t have any friends with children of his own age to play with.
I have arranged playdates after school but you can only do so much of this and I do worry that he has a boring home life to come back to.
Can anybody relate to what I am saying.
I have tried clubs with him but he never sticks them out and its not long before it becomes a battle getting him to go.
Its the time after school where I feel for him and I can,t help but feel that he should have more going on in his life.
I have tried on a couple of occasions to get other moms with only children to go to soft play after school but they always give some excuse as to why they can,t go.
Sorry I know I am rambling a bit here but I just feel that withg him being an only I should be trying to give him some sort of varied social life but I am not sure how and money is a bit of a issue with paying for clubs etc.

Can see why children feel the need to zone out after 6 hours of school, but I'm also worried that's all my DS of the same age wants to do as well (though on the computer as we don't have a Wii - I wish! ).

We're lucky though as our walk home is through 2 playgrounds, where parents will let their kids play for anything up to an hour if the weather's good, so it's a good opportunity to physical activity and socialising outside of school with not only his classmates but children from other schools. Is there anything like that near you or is your DS a bit old for that now?

My ds is a little younger (5); he is an only too so I understand where you are coming from. At the moment, we have a rule that he is only allowed half and hr of tv and the tv doesn't go on before 5 pm - he understands and is happy with this although it will change as he gets older, I'm sure. Due to my work, he is in after-school care for half an hour or so on some days so gets some free time with friends then - does your school offer this? We also have some pets and he is beginning to take a greater interest in looking after them. We play games together or walk to the post-box or whatever and chat about his day; he does his reading book.

He does have play dates at weekends and holidays but not that many in the week so don't feel too bad!

My daughter (3.10) gets out of school at 4.15.

Like all the other mothers/children, we head off to the park for an hour or so, until it is time to go home for supper/bed. There are literally hundreds of children playing in the sand pit and on the climbing frame, and everyone knows each other (550 children at the school).

I don't know what it will be like between November and March, when it will be too dark to play out.

DD is 6 and an only child. She is busy after school with friends, etc:

Monday (till 5:15pm)- Playball activity class at school

Tuesday (till 5:30pm) - I work; friend collects her (her DD is in same class) and they go and play at her house

Wednesday (till 5:30pm) - friend collects her (his DD is good friends with DD) and they go and play at his house

Thursday - no formal plans; but often call at a friends, or has a friend to play

Friday (till 5pm) - I collect a friend's two children before collecting DD from school; all back to mine. TBH often ends in a late night as friends cal and stay for dinner, etc.

Hi
There is no playground for them to pass through after school so no opportunity to play that way.
It is basically just me and ds when we get home from school and I wish that we had more hustle and bustle going on.

I suggest that you ban TV and Wii after school except on Fridays, and then see what your ds comes up with! This might make hobbies or playdates seem like a good idea!

Is there a non-specific afterschool club at his primary school? They will have different activities for the kids to do everyday, and there would be likely some other kids there in his class/year. If you're worried he's bored it might be an idea.

DD generally lays in front of tv and yells at me whilst munching pepperamis.
Bad Mother!

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