Getting anything done on weekends

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We really only have two weekend activities and our weekends always seem packed and not restful. Saturdays - adults go to the gym, trade off who is watching the kids while the other works out. Only day either of us can get to the gym, takes from 9-11:30 or so. Come home for lunch, then naps. Day is basically over. Sunday - hoping to get back to church now that things are reopening. Brunch out or home for lunch, naps. Day is then basically over. Kids are 1.5 and 4.

I know eventually there are other obligations, especially as the kids get older (birthday parties, sports, etc). What do weekend schedules looks like for other people with young kids? I'm constantly struggling to find time to tidy up the house, do projects around the house, take the car for an oil change, pay bills, whatever. Is this just life? What falls away for you when the weekends get busy?

LMAO

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is everyone else really going to the pool every weekend in the summer? The public pools in DC don't even open until 10am and by the time we get there, get dressed, and get in it is basically time to come home anyway. I can't imagine forcing that outing every weekend, we only do it as like a "special event" because we have to rearrange so much of our day.

Our pool is in our backyard, so we are swimming almost every day. I couldn’t imagine my children having to grow up in such a hot and humid environment where going swimming is treated as a “special event”.

+1

Going to the pool is the only way we spend time outdoors in the summer.

[Anonymous]

Why on earth can’t you guys do the gym during nap time?

But, overall, you guys seem kind of boring and unmotivated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously this sounds like bad scheduling on your part. You should go to the gym at 6am, nap time or when the kids are in bed. That would free up more time with them. What's wrong with going to the gym on a weekday morning or weekday evening?

Bill paying and errand running are easy to do once the kids are asleep (8pm by the latest at your kids ages, so that gives you like 3 hours every night!)

You have tons of free time. Your schedule kind of sounds boring to your kids though... Where's the pool time in the summer, bike rides, picnics, playgrounds, fun errands. Even brunch on Sunday doesn't sound appealing with kids. I have a 2 and a 4 year old. We spend half the weekend doing super fun kid stuff and then the other half tag teaming each other so we can get projects/chores done (but the kids are still having fun with the other parent). Also, my kids LOVE running errands with us. Grocery stores and Home Depot are some of their favorites, clothing stores no way.

Yes, this is what I was thinking - when do you play with or do stuff with your kids? We are like out the door every weekend to do something with the kids. Hiking, playground, play dates, biking, pool.

We certainly trade off so we can each do our own thing sometimes. I do a lot on weeknights as well. I don’t “workout” on the weekends. I might push the baby for a long walk in the stroller, or chase them at the playground or pool. My husband will take older kids on long bike rides, but gym time is early in the morning before work. I aim for 4 days a week and just try to be active on the weekends.

Same reaction here. Our weekends are kid centered, it's our real chunk of time together as a family. Mornings are the longer chunk so we usually do an outing. We are active and do a lot of hiking. I would not spend that much time away from my kids to exercise on my own. Afternoons post-nap is usually pool or backyard or just playing with toys etc at home. Agree with a lot of practical suggestions here:

- What can you get done during the workday? Generally anyone online stuff and light housework if you WFH.

- Set up your house so kids can hang out and play, sometimes on their own at least for short stretches.

- Be active with your kids

- try to work on quiet time and maybe offer a reward if the 4yo stays in his ro and plays on his own. I'm the OP from another thread asking for Quiet Time ideas and I got a ton of good ideas

- at least one parent can take the kids on a post-nap short outing.

- screen time (for older kid in our case) while getting dinner together.

- we also just have low standards at this point. Our house is messy and our meals are pretty casual. But it works for this stage.

Ours are 1 and 3.

+1

Our days were divided into two blocks at that stage of life:

*Morning block: Get up, play at home a bit, good breakfast, get out and about (playground, pool, splash park, bike rides). We used to go far and wide to find new playgrounds.

Home for lunch and nap.

*Afternoon block: Get up, have a snack, go to the library to read and pick out books. Possibly run "fun" errands with the kids, e.g. Home Depot, Lowes, the nursery. Pool again if it is super-hot, in which case we would take a picnic dinner, shower at the pool, come home clean and ready for the bedtime routine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is everyone else really going to the pool every weekend in the summer? The public pools in DC don't even open until 10am and by the time we get there, get dressed, and get in it is basically time to come home anyway. I can't imagine forcing that outing every weekend, we only do it as like a "special event" because we have to rearrange so much of our day.

Our pool is in our backyard, so we are swimming almost every day. I couldn’t imagine my children having to grow up in such a hot and humid environment where going swimming is treated as a “special event”.

And how will they learn to swim if they don't get to practice? We often go both Saturday and Sunday because it's so important to learn to swim.

You guys seem super SUPER disconnected from the financial reality of most people. Pools in DC are $$$$. Some families don't have access to one, in their backyard or at their local $1500 a year swim club. Some people put the sprinkler on and call it a day.

WTH? Public pools in DC are free to residents. They can be a little crowded or not in perfect condition, but they're totally fine.

A pretty small number of people live in actual DC. The bolded I assume applies to everyone in the larger DC metro area and is pretty offensive. There are also what, 10-15 public pools in DC? Spread across the city? Most people do not live 5-10 minutes away from one even in the city.

There are public pools in VA and MD as well. DC has metro - cheap and fast public transport to get you to a pool. It's true that financial realities are different for many people. But on this one - getting to a public pool by public transport - is not the most gaping void of inequality in this area.

Poor deprived OP, can afford brunch out with kids and has 2.5 hrs to work out, but pool is just way too expensive? Come on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is everyone else really going to the pool every weekend in the summer? The public pools in DC don't even open until 10am and by the time we get there, get dressed, and get in it is basically time to come home anyway. I can't imagine forcing that outing every weekend, we only do it as like a "special event" because we have to rearrange so much of our day.

Our pool is in our backyard, so we are swimming almost every day. I couldn’t imagine my children having to grow up in such a hot and humid environment where going swimming is treated as a “special event”.

And how will they learn to swim if they don't get to practice? We often go both Saturday and Sunday because it's so important to learn to swim.

You guys seem super SUPER disconnected from the financial reality of most people. Pools in DC are $$$$. Some families don't have access to one, in their backyard or at their local $1500 a year swim club. Some people put the sprinkler on and call it a day.

WTH? Public pools in DC are free to residents. They can be a little crowded or not in perfect condition, but they're totally fine.

A pretty small number of people live in actual DC. The bolded I assume applies to everyone in the larger DC metro area and is pretty offensive. There are also what, 10-15 public pools in DC? Spread across the city? Most people do not live 5-10 minutes away from one even in the city.

There are public pools in VA and MD as well. DC has metro - cheap and fast public transport to get you to a pool. It's true that financial realities are different for many people. But on this one - getting to a public pool by public transport - is not the most gaping void of inequality in this area.

Poor deprived OP, can afford brunch out with kids and has 2.5 hrs to work out, but pool is just way too expensive? Come on.

I think OP is being ridiculous, I mostly just took offense to PP saying she couldn't IMAGINE living in a hot human environment without access to a pool.

[Anonymous]

You have to just go to early church, then grocery shop with the kids (even if they wait with one parent in the car). Church at 11 kills the day Sunday. We go to the 8am service. It sucks, but late church is worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We really only have two weekend activities and our weekends always seem packed and not restful. Saturdays - adults go to the gym, trade off who is watching the kids while the other works out. Only day either of us can get to the gym, takes from 9-11:30 or so. Come home for lunch, then naps. Day is basically over. Sunday - hoping to get back to church now that things are reopening. Brunch out or home for lunch, naps. Day is then basically over. Kids are 1.5 and 4.

I know eventually there are other obligations, especially as the kids get older (birthday parties, sports, etc). What do weekend schedules looks like for other people with young kids? I'm constantly struggling to find time to tidy up the house, do projects around the house, take the car for an oil change, pay bills, whatever. Is this just life? What falls away for you when the weekends get busy?

LMAO

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why on earth can’t you guys do the gym during nap time?

But, overall, you guys seem kind of boring and unmotivated.

+1

Going to the gym Saturday morning instead of doing naps eliminates the best time to do activities with little kids.

Also if church isn’t until 11 you could look around for one with an earlier service or plan a short morning activity before church.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So maybe Saturdays y'all switch of afternoon gym time and on Sundays one of you can do some shopping or chores while the other one does evening church. Or get a babysitter for church.

I mean I'm just getting the sense that people on this board don't really go to church religiously. Which is ok, it is just answering the question of how everyone seems to have so much more time than me on the weekends. Church is at 11am. I can't change that time and create evening church? I've never gone to a church with an evening service; maybe that is just my denomination. I would never get a babysitter for church because the kids go to church and the older one goes to Sunday school.

There are plenty of churches with Sunday evening services and some with Saturday evening services.

Rigid thinking and inflexibility is not helping OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Find a church with multiple masses on Sundays. Mine has a really early one at maybe 8 am, 10 am and 12:15 pm plus a last call mass at 5 pm. That's just on Sundays. There is one on Saturday evening too.

NP- this is not how Protestant churches work. They are services and there's maybe two to choose from tops. Unless you're suggesting OP convert to Catholicism for her weekend schedule...

Hi! Protestant here. Our services are Sun 7:30am, 9:15, 11:30 and 6:00PM. Saturday service is 5:30PM.

You are not tied to one church location for the rest of your life if their schedule does not work for you. You might have to do some research and maybe drive a bit further to a larger church with more service times, which you'll do if it's important to you or won't if it isn't, but either way, stop with the excuses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what’s your denomination?

Methodist

NP- I'm Episcopalian. Every church I've ever attended has had an 8ish and 10ish service. There are no other options. Saturday night isn't a thing.

I'm Episcopalian and my church has 5 weekend services every week, including Saturday and Sunday nights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what’s your denomination?

Methodist

Okay, the first three hits when I Googled “Methodist services in DC” came up with a range of services from 9 am to 7 pm.
Here’s one suggestion: be open to suggestions.


9 or 1030: https://nationalchurch.org/worship-in-person

930, 11, or 7: https://chumc.net/

10 or 5: https://www.asburyumcdc.org/

Oh, look at that! Now we'll start hearing the excuses about how it's too hard or they aren't willing to drive, etc, etc.

[Anonymous]

Np. Did not read the thread. Your weekend is the complete opposite of ours. We go out and do things. We basically devote the weekend to spending time and having fun with the kids. That being said, DH and I are at least 15 pounds overweight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Find a church with multiple masses on Sundays. Mine has a really early one at maybe 8 am, 10 am and 12:15 pm plus a last call mass at 5 pm. That's just on Sundays. There is one on Saturday evening too.

NP- this is not how Protestant churches work. They are services and there's maybe two to choose from tops. Unless you're suggesting OP convert to Catholicism for her weekend schedule...

Hi! Protestant here. Our services are Sun 7:30am, 9:15, 11:30 and 6:00PM. Saturday service is 5:30PM.

You are not tied to one church location for the rest of your life if their schedule does not work for you. You might have to do some research and maybe drive a bit further to a larger church with more service times, which you'll do if it's important to you or won't if it isn't, but either way, stop with the excuses.

What is your denomination? Sincerely asking. Because not all denominations are like this. Mega churches maybe, but basically you're saying OP should try to cherry pick a church, ie CONVERT, to fit her kids schedule. That makes no sense. Church comes first.