Getting anything done on weekends

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

BS. What 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.

At some point, family ends up being more important than some dude preaching about god and morals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Out of all the replies here, THIS one -- which basically told you that you are SOL for the next three years -- is the one you found helpful?? I mean, sure, PPs could have been nicer, but you actually got a lot of helpful advice and tips about how to structure your week, etc. to find more time and feel more relaxed during your weekends.

Yeah everyone telling me to quit going to the gym and take walks with the stroller, instead and to switch to Catholicism because they have evening mass, those were not particularly helpful comments. I wasn't really asking for help reconfiguring my schedule, which is currently (mostly) working for me for the moment (until we start adding anything else in). It is hectic, but I didn't say I wasn't getting stuff done. My actual questions were: "What do weekend schedules looks like for other people with young kids?" and "What falls away for you when the weekends get busy?" So yeah, some replies were more helpful than others.

I posted my schedule and you didn't reply to that!

[Anonymous]

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.

Most people in the suburbs aren't going to public pools. But yes, our community pool opens at 11:00, but we go at 11:00 and stay until 12:30, then we eat lunch and the kids nap. We frequently do something in the morning before we go to the pool too, even if it's just running errands.

[Anonymous]

Really, if OP has a good church family, good exercise regimen, life looking pretty good. In a way, she has it together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Yes, this was our schedule at those ages as well.

Then bedtime was by 7:30, so DH and I would break out the cocktails, and munch on apps while we grilled dinner. Then watched a movie.

We packed a lot into weekends. I really let the cleaning slide, though.

[Anonymous]

I feel like I’m recommending this a lot on here but check out Laura Vander Kam, who writes about time management. She has a book about working moms called “I know how she does it” and her chapter on weekends talks about maximizing weekend time. There needs to be some planning and forethought to maximize time. I have a two and four year old and the loose frustrating weekends are those where we haven’t planned properly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

At some point, family ends up being more important than some dude preaching about god and morals.

Wow tell me you don't go to church without telling me you don't go to church. You really don't get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

No, it doesn't. The largest Episcopal church in the US has four weekend services. The largest Episcopal church in DC has two. The largest in Alexandria has three. The largest in Maryland has two. The largest in New York City? ONE.

Of all the weird things to lie about on the internet...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

At some point, family ends up being more important than some dude preaching about god and morals.

Wow tell me you don't go to church without telling me you don't go to church. You really don't get it.

I get that I have different priorities than you do, and that's fine. I'm just telling you why I don't go to church. You can do whatever the hell you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

No, it doesn't. The largest Episcopal church in the US has four weekend services. The largest Episcopal church in DC has two. The largest in Alexandria has three. The largest in Maryland has two. The largest in New York City? ONE.

Of all the weird things to lie about on the internet...

NP but it's super weird that you know this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

No, it doesn't. The largest Episcopal church in the US has four weekend services. The largest Episcopal church in DC has two. The largest in Alexandria has three. The largest in Maryland has two. The largest in New York City? ONE.

Of all the weird things to lie about on the internet...

NP but it's super weird that you know this

Let's call it professional knowledge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

At some point, family ends up being more important than some dude preaching about god and morals.

Wow tell me you don't go to church without telling me you don't go to church. You really don't get it.

I get that I have different priorities than you do, and that's fine. I'm just telling you why I don't go to church. You can do whatever the hell you want.

No one cares why you don't go to church.

[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?

Why is your day over after nap time? That’s when the fun starts for us. We take the kids to the pool, park, library or some kind of kid friendly outing after they wake up from their naps. I don’t understand why your day is ‘over.’

[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.

Most people in the suburbs aren't going to public pools. But yes, our community pool opens at 11:00, but we go at 11:00 and stay until 12:30, then we eat lunch and the kids nap. We frequently do something in the morning before we go to the pool too, even if it's just running errands.

We go to the pool almost every day in the summer, and certainly on the weekends. Even if it’s only for 30 mins it tires the kids out. We keep the pool bag packed and just grab suits and towels whenever there is a free hour before dinner or whenever to fit it in. Our pool has food trucks some evenings so you could eat dinner there and take the evening off from cooking.