We just have one kid but she’s still at two naps so the weekends go by quickly making sure she gets her naps in and is fed. We are still working from home, so can squeeze in laundry or cleaning the bathroom while on calls, but two things have really saved us time in order to get other things done: we got a peloton so we aren’t spending time going back and forth to the gym. We also either order groceries for pick up or delivery (Giant and Target).

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I make a to-do list every week. It takes 30 minutes or so, but it helps a lot. As people have (so kindly) pointed out, a lot of the things on your list (and my list) only take a few minutes. But so often when I have ten minutes I can’t think of what I need to do and spend that time screwing around online. When I have my list, and I have ten minutes, I look at the list and pick something that takes ten minutes to do.

DP but I love this idea! It is so simple but I absolutely waste little chunks of time (like right now lol) when I'm between things

NP- my husband and I share a to-do list on our iphones. Either of us can add or take things off the list. We also have one for groceries so we always know what we need.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I skipped through a lot of replies because it seemed like people were trying to just criticize you.
Honestly, that all shifted when my youngest stopped napping around 3.5. Now, we have the whole day to do stuff. I was just marveling this weekend at how much we can do and get done now -- exercise for the parents; errands (I NEVER felt like I had time for errands before); and family activities / kids stuff.

This is so much what I was hoping to hear, thanks for your reply! On one hand, I dread the end of naps because on hard days I basically live for the quiet relief of naptime. On the other hand, naptime is just such a hard and fast break in our day that I feel like we can only really do one thing per weekend day and then we're done "going out." I'm glad it is has worked out for you that the end of naptime brought some flexibility; I hope the same happens to me!

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.

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.

Church is 1 hour. The fact that you think people are mostly godless on this board (which maybe they are, who knows), doesn't make it less weird that "day is over" at nap time according to you.

Yeah we don't go to church, but if we did it wouldn't be hard to make that our Sunday morning outing and maybe add something nearby beforehand.

I would certainly not do brunch every week. Most little kids don't like sitting at restaurants that long. And add that to sitting in church -- not a lot of energy being burned off.

Move gym time to the afternoon when kids are napping. The morning is when you can go out and do family stuff. I agree afternoons are mostly lost with little kids due to naps, but you can usually squeeze in 1-2 hours after naps for playground or whatever.

Planet Fitness gyms are open 24/7 and cost $10/month. If one is near you, that can be worth it.

Another idea: get a mini gym set up at home then you can work out on your own schedule. In DC MINT, some Sports and Health locations have childcare - this is from a cursory google search which you can do in 2 min (including after your day is basically over).

Anonymous wrote:I make a to-do list every week. It takes 30 minutes or so, but it helps a lot. As people have (so kindly) pointed out, a lot of the things on your list (and my list) only take a few minutes. But so often when I have ten minutes I can’t think of what I need to do and spend that time screwing around online. When I have my list, and I have ten minutes, I look at the list and pick something that takes ten minutes to do.

DP but I love this idea! It is so simple but I absolutely waste little chunks of time (like right now lol) when I'm between things

OP, is your husband unable to watch both kids at once, or does he whine about it? Nip that in the bud and you will have a lot more time.

I found if I swore off TV and my phone and laptop entirely after 9 pm, I would tidy and take care of things for lack of anything else to do. Try it.

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.

Church is 1 hour. The fact that you think people are mostly godless on this board (which maybe they are, who knows), doesn't make it less weird that "day is over" at nap time according to you.

I make a to-do list every week. It takes 30 minutes or so, but it helps a lot. As people have (so kindly) pointed out, a lot of the things on your list (and my list) only take a few minutes. But so often when I have ten minutes I can’t think of what I need to do and spend that time screwing around online. When I have my list, and I have ten minutes, I look at the list and pick something that takes ten minutes to do.

Anonymous wrote:I skipped through a lot of replies because it seemed like people were trying to just criticize you.
Honestly, that all shifted when my youngest stopped napping around 3.5. Now, we have the whole day to do stuff. I was just marveling this weekend at how much we can do and get done now -- exercise for the parents; errands (I NEVER felt like I had time for errands before); and family activities / kids stuff.

This is so much what I was hoping to hear, thanks for your reply! On one hand, I dread the end of naps because on hard days I basically live for the quiet relief of naptime. On the other hand, naptime is just such a hard and fast break in our day that I feel like we can only really do one thing per weekend day and then we're done "going out." I'm glad it is has worked out for you that the end of naptime brought some flexibility; I hope the same happens to me!

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.

OP - what are your weeks like? We try to get a lot of stuff done during the week so as to have more relaxing weekends. I understand that this might not be possible given your weeks but what is your childcare situation? How are your commutes? What hours do you both work? What kinds of jobs? If you both commute an hour in opposite directions and have your schedules staggered so one does drop offs and one does pick ups and you're both in jobs where you're on your feet (i.e. doctors?), then I get how you could feel like you can't get anything done during the week. But really, that's the best way to have more time on the weekend if it's possible. With young kids like yours you should have time after they go to bed? I'm not a night owl by any means but I can still manage to eke out a thing or two after the kids have gone to bed if needed.

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.

No, we have more time on the weekends because we're better at scheduling. By 11 am on a Sunday you could have gotten a few things done, like paying bills and ordering groceries for the next week. Also you could have both worked out - you don't have to go to a gym to do that. On a Sunday we would have (1) worked out, (2) played with the dogs, (3) had breakfast and cleaned up the kitchen for the week (i.e. really wiped down the countertops and vacuumed/mopped), (4) ordered groceries for delivery that afternoon, (5) showered and gotten dressed, and (6) laid out clothes and made lunches/snacks for Monday before leaving for church. Do you do CrossFit? We do, so I'm wondering about the times you're saying you have to go, as our gym only has classes at certain times on the weekends. However, we don't do the classes when they don't work with our schedules - we do something at home instead. If your gym isn't open at 6 am, you may need to rethink your workout strategy and start doing the gym during the week and leaving the weekends for running, biking, garage workouts, etc.