Why is every kid related activity absolutely packed every weekend/holiday

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC area parents are better educated than the parent population in other cities and a lot of them parent competitively, plus they have more readily available disposable income. These things add up to tons of parents seeking “enrichment” experiences for their kids.

Combine that with the DC area not having adequate resources to meet this demand.

Our kids are teens now and we have dragged them all over the US and Europe to every kind of “enrichment” activity you can imagine, all seasons, all times of day, all days of the week. I can, hands down, say that the DC area activities are the most over subscribed, crowded, and unpleasant.

That being said, there are a ton of good art museums in DC with light crowds, so maybe try that.

I often feel the bolded is true but about so many things. I feel like DC doesn't have enough family-friendly restaurants, for instance. There are so many families here but it can be hard to find a place where it is appropriate and convenient to take kids out to eat. I personally don't want to take my kids to the fancier places in and around the city. I know a lot of people do -- these people either have more sophisticated and well-behaved kids than I do, or they are making the experience at those restaurants miserable for everyone. We wind up going to chains for pizza or Mexican when we go out to eat, simply because we know they'll have a decent kids menu or kid-friendly food, the seating and bathrooms will be kid-friendly, and the restaurant will be okay with kids who do not yet have perfect table skills (my kids are actually pretty well behaved but they are still kids and not tiny refined adults -- they sometimes raise their voices, are still refining their fine motor skills and might spill or get crumbs on the floor, don't always remember to use their napkins instead of the collar of their shirts).

Anyway, I can't figure it out. When we visit friends and family in cities like Philly, Boston, Pittsburgh, Atlanta... it's always really easy to find family dining spots, whether it's burgers or barbecue or Italian or a brewpub or whatever. In DC we really struggle with it.

[Anonymous]

If OP is talking about museums and the National Zoo she is competing with tons of tourists as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So don't go to those places! I don't mean this snarkily. Go on easy kid-friendly hikes and to outdoor playgrounds on nice days. On rainy days there are less-known museums (the college park aviation museum, the building museum are good kid friendly ones). There are always interesting festivals and kids' theater programs and ranger programs in county parks. Try the kid-friendly DC blog for ideas, I used to read it religiously when my now-middle schooler was younger. The upside to a big area like this is that there are a million things to do. Sometimes they're packed but mostly not

+1 my kids don't cope well with crowds so we do a lot of hiking, visiting nature centers, will enjoy the zoo on a lightly rainy day, and like to explore cool playgrounds in other neighborhoods. Definitely look at Kid-Friendly DC.

Also we're lucky that we live in Arlington where they turn one of the rec centers into a roller rink on Saturday nights in the winter
https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Departments/Parks-Recreation/Parks-Events/Family-Skate-Night

[Anonymous]

I think that there’s more of a drive to take kids to do these big activities because kids are not wandering the neighborhoods free range style to find friends and so the parents are more in charge of entertainment. Hence the need to go to the movies zoo, etc

[Anonymous]

It’s surprising no one mentioned going to the ballet, plays and musicals. Lunch or dinner with interactive theatre for older kids. Anything that requires a reservation.

The Kite Runner is coming to town in a couple of months. Older kids can read the book before going.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC area parents are better educated than the parent population in other cities and a lot of them parent competitively, plus they have more readily available disposable income. These things add up to tons of parents seeking “enrichment” experiences for their kids.

Combine that with the DC area not having adequate resources to meet this demand.

Our kids are teens now and we have dragged them all over the US and Europe to every kind of “enrichment” activity you can imagine, all seasons, all times of day, all days of the week. I can, hands down, say that the DC area activities are the most over subscribed, crowded, and unpleasant.

That being said, there are a ton of good art museums in DC with light crowds, so maybe try that.

I often feel the bolded is true but about so many things. I feel like DC doesn't have enough family-friendly restaurants, for instance. There are so many families here but it can be hard to find a place where it is appropriate and convenient to take kids out to eat. I personally don't want to take my kids to the fancier places in and around the city. I know a lot of people do -- these people either have more sophisticated and well-behaved kids than I do, or they are making the experience at those restaurants miserable for everyone. We wind up going to chains for pizza or Mexican when we go out to eat, simply because we know they'll have a decent kids menu or kid-friendly food, the seating and bathrooms will be kid-friendly, and the restaurant will be okay with kids who do not yet have perfect table skills (my kids are actually pretty well behaved but they are still kids and not tiny refined adults -- they sometimes raise their voices, are still refining their fine motor skills and might spill or get crumbs on the floor, don't always remember to use their napkins instead of the collar of their shirts).

Anyway, I can't figure it out. When we visit friends and family in cities like Philly, Boston, Pittsburgh, Atlanta... it's always really easy to find family dining spots, whether it's burgers or barbecue or Italian or a brewpub or whatever. In DC we really struggle with it.

How old are your kids? I have never had this problem in DC. In the past month I have taken them to Ted's Bulletin, a local Mexican restaurant, a neighborhood Thai place, and Hitching Post. My kids are 4 and 7 and found food to eat at all of them no issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the third area I’ve lived with kids and I’ve never seen anything like it. The first couple of times I thought it just must have been an especially busy day but it’s every time/every place. My kids spend so much time waiting in lines that’s it’s not even worth it to go anywhere anymore.
Places we have tried:
Aquarium
Port discovery
Climbzone
Urban air
Meland
Zavazone
All these places have been so full so we just wanted to leave.

Also why is there no roller rink in Montgomery county? I have never lived in a place that didn’t at least have one roller rink?

Do people who move to DC from other places just not want to live in DC and find reasons to put down to DC? I am from DC but have lived other places and I can't figure out why there are so many "that is just DC sucking" responses to those questions. Why do you all move here, go to places like Zavazone and then complain about how DC people are awful and DC parents don't want to hang out with their kids and DC people are so competitive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because this area is high density and there are not as many kid friendly activity places as there are in some other areas. Add that to better educated parents with more money and you have constantly packed activities.

I tend to avoid as much as possible on the weekends if we have any other time during the week.

It's this. I also think this area has more of a culture of taking kids to an activity, and in other cities there's either more activities or people are more likely to stay home or just take kids to each other's homes. Especially this time of year. My DC friends are doing different activities every weekend while my Chicago and Philly friends are either at home or maybe doing something outside (skiing or hiking or something).

Well, the closest ski places and popular hiking trails /state parks get packed on the weekend too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you come into DC for roller skating? There’s this place: https://www.experiencekraken.com/rollerskating

And it's rarely particularly crowded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some parents are literally terrified at the thought of an entire weekend day with their kids and no external activity. Terrified. And I know this because they straight up say so. So they sign up for lessons and book paid outings because they are afraid to spend 12 hours home alone with their children.

Then why did they have kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you come into DC for roller skating? There’s this place: https://www.experiencekraken.com/rollerskating

And it's rarely particularly crowded.

We had fun there but it’s a very small rink, you have to pay for metered parking, and not a fan of paying for cabanas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because this area is high density and there are not as many kid friendly activity places as there are in some other areas. Add that to better educated parents with more money and you have constantly packed activities.

I tend to avoid as much as possible on the weekends if we have any other time during the week.

It's this. I also think this area has more of a culture of taking kids to an activity, and in other cities there's either more activities or people are more likely to stay home or just take kids to each other's homes. Especially this time of year. My DC friends are doing different activities every weekend while my Chicago and Philly friends are either at home or maybe doing something outside (skiing or hiking or something).

Well, the closest ski places and popular hiking trails /state parks get packed on the weekend too.

Lol that’s so true. The trails can be unbelievably crowded on the weekend—it is not peaceful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the third area I’ve lived with kids and I’ve never seen anything like it. The first couple of times I thought it just must have been an especially busy day but it’s every time/every place. My kids spend so much time waiting in lines that’s it’s not even worth it to go anywhere anymore.
Places we have tried:
Aquarium
Port discovery
Climbzone
Urban air
Meland
Zavazone
All these places have been so full so we just wanted to leave.

Also why is there no roller rink in Montgomery county? I have never lived in a place that didn’t at least have one roller rink?

Do people who move to DC from other places just not want to live in DC and find reasons to put down to DC? I am from DC but have lived other places and I can't figure out why there are so many "that is just DC sucking" responses to those questions. Why do you all move here, go to places like Zavazone and then complain about how DC people are awful and DC parents don't want to hang out with their kids and DC people are so competitive?

You are aware that so many people move to this are for jobs correct? Like it’s not like random adults with children just sit at the table one night and decide they are going to move to the DC area. Many people don’t have a choice when they move to the area because it’s for a job that would be great for their long term career goals.

[Anonymous]

I love how so many people are recommending art museums. Who so taking their 3 and 4 year olds to art museums?

-adult who actually doesn’t like art museums so it’s even harder to imagine a toddler/preschooler that does.

[Anonymous]

Because no one wants to be stuck home trying to entertain their kid all day, duh. Much better to plop them in a trampoline park where you can loosely supervise (or not) while scrolling your phone for a couple hrs