What do YOU do on the weekends??

[Mommyfaithe]

Do you stay home and clean, or prep for the coming week? Do you have outside activities? Do you lounge around and rest? Do you have friends come over, or go to someone else's house for fellowship?

 

This weekend was a turning point for me....I am NOT staying home all weekend cleaning up after my kids while they go have fun somewhere else. I think we need a couple of cleaning hours Saturday morning and then go DO something......but, I need ideas....particulary ones that do NOT revolve around food or spending too much money.

 

Thanks,

faithe

[Night Elf]

If you're looking for something to do with the kids, have a movie or game night. All you need are some finger snacks like popcorn or pretzels. That's how we spend time together, meaning we're all in the same room and not holed up in our bedrooms all the time. We also have a puzzle on the table, but that's not a whole family thing. People come and go with it, working on it whenever they are in the mood. We rarely have more than 2 people doing it at the same time.

 

I might clean a little but I don't have any schedule for it, not even during weekdays. DH and I watch shows together. Dd14 and I usually go shopping, though we don't always buy stuff. We just like to go out. And I spend about an hour on Sunday planning ds16's school week.

[MissKNG]

The weekends are "family fun" weekends. We go out to lunch one of the days and do stuff together. It's winter so it is a bit more limited so we go for drives, ice skating, bowling, wander around the mall, hang out at home and watch a movie and every now and then, we go to a movie. In the summer, we do stuff outside often.

 

But our weekends are "family fun" things. And personally, I pretty much do what I do every day - clean, make meals, lounge after the girls go to bed for a bit and read. Except for dh being home and us going out as a family, my weekend activities aren't much different than weekdays in terms of cleaning and such.

 

Not sure where you live but purchasing a state park pass is a great investment! One time fee and we get into any state park for free. And the fee isn't really a lot. So that is a nice way to get out and do something without spending a lot of money (since it is already paid for!).

[Heather in Neverland]

Go to the farmers market.

Go grocery shopping.

Take the kids to AWANA.

Hang out at the sports club (play tennis, swim, etc)

Church

Shopping at the mall

Dinner with friends

Read

Plan for the following week

Watch movies

Play games

Etc.

 

That's how we spend most weekends. :)

[Cindy in FL.]

We have "family night" on Sundays. We rotate who is responsible for picking the activity each week and I take care of the snacks. Choices have included: movies, board games, volleyball, badminton, shooting, billiards, disc golf, etc.

[bettyandbob]

My ds has activities on weekends. He has 2 special Olympics thing on Saturday that dh drives him to hole I work. I take him to adaptive karting after church on Sunday. Programs for persons with special needs require an army of volunteers or they cannot happen. They only time these groups can assemble enough volunteers is the weekend, so that is the only time ds can participate. Dd and might do a mother daughter movie either Friday or Saturday. We might have a whole family movie, but we do not do a lot of whole family things because of the range of differences and needs. Sometimes we'll do an outing like the aquarium. And I o most of our laundry.

[Parrothead]

Do you stay home and clean, or prep for the coming week? Do you have outside activities? Do you lounge around and rest? Do you have friends come over, or go to someone else's house for fellowship?

 

 

All of the above.

 

Have you thought about instituting family clean up time after dinner each and every evening? No one is allowed to not participate and the house is put in order for the next day.

 

That way on weekends all you really have to do is run a feather duster and vacuum a bit. If you have enough kids old enough to do it you could have someone run the feather duster during the week and someone else vacuum once or twice during the week.

[Laura Corin]

On Friday night I rehearse with my choir. Saturday morning is house cleaning time. In good weather, I spend most of the rest of the weekend working in the garden.

 

Laura

[Donna]

Well, this time of year I spend Saturdays watching wrestling in a high school gymnasium and then we have a family evening.

 

Every other Sunday, I drive 6 hours round trip for dd's fiddle lesson. On the opposite Sundays we usually go to church in the am then either hang out at an Irish pub listening to the session dd has joined, the kids have a performance, or we hang out at home and I clean up and cook a nice meal.

 

Friday nights are spent with me reading a book waiting for dd's orchestra rehearsal.

[Jenny in Florida]

I do a variety of things, some of which involve my offsprings' committments, some of which are family activities and some of which are just for me.

 

I get up before the rest of my family and go for a walk with my dog. We usually walk for about an hour each morning, and I like Saturdays, especially, because it's the one day I often don't have to worry about being back home by any particular time.

 

Aside from that, I filled the past weekend with reading, doing a couple of local walking expeditions (to the Redbox and market) with my husband and son, driving my daughter to and from rehearsals both days, watching shows we had saved on the DVR, visiting another church, more or less keeping up with some cooking and cleaning, and then a little more reading. This weekend, the weather was gorgeous, and I managed to spend a nice chunk of time sitting outside to read on Sunday afternoon, which was probably the highlight.

 

This was an unusually light weekend, though. On an average one, I spend a LOT more time driving my kids around town and doing things for them. We just happen to be in a bit of a lull right now, in terms of weekend scheduling.

[Wabi Sabi]

I work 42 hours from Friday-Sunday. Doesn't leave time for much of anything else. The little downtime I have at home is spent doing some light housework but mostly just sleeping! ;-)

[Lizzie in Ma]

Typically, I read or knit and watch something on the screen, make a nice supper.

The kids usually have a friend over.

[ashfern]

Saturday is karate day. We leave the house at 9:30 and get home at 1:30. The rest of the day is usually playing games or watching movies.

 

Sunday is church. We leave at 8:30 and get home by 12:30. The rest of the day is family time. We may take a walk or just play games. We don't shop or eat out though.

[KatieJ]

Back in the day when I had all my kiddoes home Friday was 1/2 day of scheduled school for things that needed to be caught up on and/or Math if needed.

Then we cleaned the house thoroughly. I put on music and everyone had their list of chores. If my list was longer than that, I would tell them that today wsa a "I am done with my job, what do I do next ?" kind of day. That way they were warned there were more things to get done than usual and sometimes I made the list up as I went along. You all know how that goes.

If there was time, we usually hit the grocery store too.

That way chores were done before Friday nights and Saturdays were free for everyone to do whatever.

A friend of mine who had older kids shared me with her Friday cleaning schedule. Teens weren't allowed out on Friday night unless their room was clean and their chore list was done. That motivated all my teens!

 

 

Monday mornings went better when we all spent a few minutes on Sunday evening putting the house back together.

[Tess in the Burbs]

Growing up we did chores before our activities or we didn't get to go to those activities. And yes, my dad, the coach of my basketball team, was late or left me home many a game if I didn't get my chores done!!!

 

Cleaning the house is a family thing for us. While most of it is myself and the kids during the week if I ask for help on the weekend everyone pitches in to get it done quickly. And they do anything I ask.

 

Right now in life our weekends are full of kids activities. Sometimes I have something to go to but rarely on the weekend. I see a light at the end of the tunnel though. The kids often play on their own and I have more time to do crafty things. I made a pot holder this weekend and finished part of a quilt I had been working on.

 

For us, the weekends are family time if a child doesn't have an activity. My son plays basketball so I go to his games when I can. My daughter does gymnastics so right now most of my weekends are filled with meets and obligations related to that. Come spring I will be at soccer for my son. Daughter is at the gym 5 hours on Sat so we do things without her.

 

If you want more time for yourself, then plan it. The family should help clean. You all live there. While most is probably your job being a stay at home mom, you can enlist your kids to help. My load is much lighter than it used to be. I love these ages! My husband does a fair share though and more when I ask. He's figured out that if the house isn't clean I won't pack up for us to go do something fun. So we get it done together.

 

And I look forward to the days when my son is old enough to be home along longer so Dh and I can go do our own thing

[*Lulu*]

I do a combination of things. DH's second job is for our church so the weekends have a lot of church related things in them for us.

 

Saturday:

Farmer's market (in season)

family clean time (about 1.5 hours if everyone is dragging feet)

Punk finishes his school work for the week

I cook a massive lunch

Everyone gets cleaned up and we are at the church from 3-7

 

 

Sunday:

Church

Family movie

School prep

Sewing (sometimes- it depends on how long I need to be at the church that day)

Kids go to evening activites at church

 

My children are relatively young compared to yours IIRC, but I have struggled to find a balance this past year with thier needs vs mine. One of the things that really helps is I do not do the bulk of the cleaning anymore. I do more than any other single person in the family, but EVERYONE helps. We clean one room everyday and every member of the family here during cleaning time is expected to help. I only fold my clothes, DH and the kids fold thier own, and the kids fold all towels. (Sometimes I help, but not always.) I have also started delegating out meal prep. My battle cry has become, "Mom is people too!"

 

This shift from it being *my* job to care for the house to it being the job of everyone who lives here has made a huge difference in how things flow around here. I am able to sit down by 8pm each night to do whatever *I* want, not run around finishing up what I feel I ought to be doing. So while I do not do a ton on the weekend for myself, (beyond the volunteering at church and sometimes sewing), I have built that time in throughout the week.

[Georgiana Daniels]

I would LOVE to lounge and rest--and I thought we'd be doing that this time of year.

 

However...

 

The kids schedule got juggled around and now we have as many weekends away as we did in the fall: gym meets, soccer tournaments, and now a baton competition. Would LOVE to stay home, but these things are important to the kidlets so I'm putting my wheels on.

[kewb]

If I am lucky I sit down and read a book uninterrupted for hours. Usually my weekends involve laundry and chauffering.

[Mommyfaithe]

I am reading and taking notes....keep the ideas coming!

[beaners]

We don't have a "weekend." My husband works most weekends, and has random days off during the week. My weekends look just like every other day right now.

[regentrude]

When the kids were younger, we would go on a day hike or outing for at least one of the days as a family. Now that they are teens, they usually opt out; DH and I go hiking together most weekends, if weather permits. We leave early and get back mid-afternoon. If it is not as nice, we'll go at least for a couple of hours.

There are few cultural offerings in our town, but if there is anything going on (concert, theatre), we'll go. Went to a cabaret performance on Saturday.

We also like to have guests for dinner, maybe once a month.

I like to bake on weekends when I have more time than during the work week.

 

I definitely do not spend my weekends cleaning the house. I am usually on top of stuff, so there is no half-day cleaning project looming anyway.

[M&M]

Most weekends are filled with trying to catch up on housework and laundry, planning school, kid activities and church.

 

This weekend I attended at Tea to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Predjudice. It was at my friend's house, with her daughters' help they prepared a lovely tea with all the bells and whistles from scratch. I was able to meet new people and talk about all kinds of things unrelated to homeschooling. I think I need more Sundays like that!

[TammyinTN]

I clean house on Friday and do all the things to have a quiet and peaceful weekend. We watch movies, work on crafting projects, cook meals that require more time, watch loads of TV, exercise, play games....basically anything we don't get to do during the week. We stay up late and sleep in...basically we just enjoy each other and relax. Sunday night we all quickly put everything away and tidy up and get ready for the new week.

[BrookValley.]

Our weekends are usually spent trying to get a zillion things done around the farm and house (and I have always worked weekends, too, though I am not doing that as often anymore). We don't do any activities, and we rarely do anything fun. So weekends are the time to paint, fix fences, clean chicken pens, declutter, fix cars...you name it. It's the only time my DH and I have together to do these things.

[Scarlett]

This weekend was weird for me. Ds was with his dad....but dh was gone ALL day sat doing volunteer work. Ds was suppose to be back sat evening but the weather turned bad so xh kept him until Sunday afternoon. So I took advantage of my sat alone and got caught up on my ironing!!!

 

Sunday morning we got a call that services were cancelled sue to the ice so dh and I enjoyed our child free day.

 

What I wanted to do on sat was go into the city for a home remodeling show....and go eat sushi and see a movie.

 

Last sat we had kids and took them to incredible pizza. That is not inexpensive though.

[justamouse]

Saturday morning I am compelled to clean. I try not to, but it's scheduled into me. The kids help. Then we have lunch and after that, we rest. Sunday we go to church and then rest some more.

 

We take hikes, go fishing, fly kites, go sledding, watch movies, eat popcorn...

[BakersDozen]

Saturday mornings are dedicated to floors and chores. Everyone old enough has a floor they vacuum completely (move furniture) and wash, plus a Saturday chore (clean washing machine/laundry room sink/under kitchen sink, etc.). This takes about 30 minutes. I also wash all sheets and towels while kids hang out their blankets on the line outside. If all goes well, we are done by lunchtime or before. After lunch, dh usually takes the kids out to a park or something while I stay home and finish laundry or do busy work that I didn't have time to do during the week. So for me, Saturday is a work day (which is what we are teaching our dc that Saturday is anyway). Homework is always completed on Saturday. Sometimes dh and I will get together with friends but that is rare.

 

Sundays are church then hanging out at home together. No chores or schoolwork, no friends over, no shopping. Awana is in the evening for most of us, then family time and bed.

 

It works for us. :) I can relax on Sunday knowing I used Saturday to its fullest.

[Hoot]

DH and DS13 usually go to baseball practice on Saturday mornings while I stay home and clean animal enclosures. When they get home DH and I go thrift shopping and hang out for a few hours away from home. At night we usually have take-out for dinner and watch a movie. On Sunday there's church in the morning and then the plan is typically to stay home and veg for the rest of the day. We typically try not to plan anything outside of the house on Sundays but we'll often work in the yard, in the house or the males will watch sports while I read. I try to get the house cleaning done during the week so I don't have to worry about it on the weekends.

[Karen in CO]

I have my morning coffee in bed then make a grocery list for dh who then goes to the store. I have my breakfast then hide in the corner of the couch with a book and a cup of unhurried coffee while I read. After dh gets back with the groceries, we put them away then do a little clean up then get out of the house. We typically go for a walk or to a state park. We try to go out for pizza on Saturday night or at least I don't cook. Sunday, if the weather is good, we'll spend most of the day outside. If the weather is bad, I will play games with the kids or hide with a book. I just can't spend my whole week working and picking up after everyone and driving them everywhere and then do the same thing on the weekends. I need some time to breathe and relax and get fresh air and get out of the house in a way that doesn't involve driving a kid somewhere. A happy momma makes a happy household. :D

[SunnyDays]

Ours always look different!

 

In the winter, we spend a lot of time at home. We catch up on laundry, maybe do an organizing project. For downtime, I read or surf the internet or catch up on DVR'd shows. DH and DS will often spend a long afternoon playing Minecraft or something on the Wii.

 

In nicer weather, we try to get outside... we grill and eat outdoors, or work in the yard, or meet friends for some sort of outdoor activity. We try to hit the Farmer's Market and other seasonal events like our art festival, etc.

 

Year round, we usually try to do church on Saturday evenings (although not right now as DS has basketball scheduled), catch up on things that didn't get done during the week, plan the week's school schedule and activities, and a couple times a month get together with friends.

 

Faithe, definitely figure out how to take more time for you!! I agree that there's no reason you should be home working away while everyone else is out having fun. All of your kiddos are old enough to have at least a few chores they're responsible for! You'll just have to figure out what works for you. :grouphug:

[TravelingChris]

On Friday or Saturday nights and sometimes SUnday afternoons, we often go to a performance- a touring Broadway show, the symphony, a band or singer, etc. Sometimes we go to movies- often on Saturday afternoon. On Saturday mornings, we are often birding with a group. Other times we go to the Botanical Garden, the Art Museum, some special event, out for breakfast, etc. Sometimes we spend part of the weekend doing chores- last weekend it was taking down Christmas and this weekend, I did some planting while dh did recycling. Dh often does woodworking. During college football season, we watch the game if Alabama is playing.

 

On Sunday, our dd is at church from 9-12 and we join her at 9:45 for Sunday school (she has choir rehearsal earlier). Then in the afternoon, she has dive practice and then in the evening, she has youth group and before that, praise team practice. Occasionally, we go out for lunch after church and may be doing that more now that her practice has changed to a later time.

 

If we are home, we watch movies or tv shows together (like Midsomer Murder).

[raceNzanesmom]

I work a lot of weekends (child care) and we have church on Sunday. Dh works every weekend. Friday nights are usually family movie/game night. Oldest ds usually joins us if he's not working. If I schedule any evening out with friends it's usually a week night.

 

We use Heart of Dakota so no planning, and we clean a little every day.

[Arcadia]

My boys go to german class on saturday mornings so its couple time for me and hubby. Than we have lunch out followed by the library and grocery shopping. Sundays are spent lazing at home unless we find a fun event to go to. Cleaning is done as and when needed.

[applethyme]

I work Friday to Monday. This way I can still be home with the kids during the week and we can still pay our bills.

 

The kids love it because they have Daddy all to themselves. Currently they are remodeling the master bathroom. This week when I came home ds wanted me to go back to work so they could keep working the the flooring.

[LMV]

What I do depends on the weekend. Sometimes I work weekend shifts (both because it allows me to be home during the week if DH has a client meeting he needs to attend and because it is only fair that we all share the weekend shifts). Sometimes I spend a big part of a weekend traveling to, helping prepare for, and attending an ODP soccer tournament, an equestrian eventing meet, a gymnastics meet, or an orchestra concert. Sometimes I enjoy that we just have a whole family together quiet Saturday afternoon at home in the pool, or riding horses, or baking bread. Variety and balance are good and we seem to keep it together somehow.

[Ewe Mama]

It varies a lot, but typically, I clean, prepare lesson plans, do some crafting, do Joy's long kinky curly hair on Saturday afternoon, and spend the day at church on Sunday. Oh, and cooking. How can I forget cooking. And laundry. And meal planning.

[FriedClams]

Long walk... Scouts....basketball....church....AWANA.....potluckat church....naps....watch football....farmers market....scouts....LOL

[Guest inoubliable]

Walks with family. Read. Projects that only got so far without DH's help. Trip to the supermarket. Napping. On Saturdays, we try to race down to the library. If it's the end of the month, meal planning for the next month. I try not to do too many chores on weekends. We do that during the week instead so that we can do more things together as a family on the weekends.

[KungFuPanda]

I can now keep the house in order easier than back when I made everyone help. My kids are 12 and 15, so no more toys laying about and they're just not that messy. Dd started high school last year, DH is at work, and that leaves me with one middle schooler and the house so, No, I don't spend my weekends cleaning. A few hours in the morning while DS works independently is good enough.

 

Weekends here are for fun outings or just resting at home. We usually eat lunch out one day. Last weekend Dd and I went to a play and had dinner in the city while Ds and Dh attended an event for my son. If I have a workshop or performance it's almost always on a weekend, so that's about once a month. My family is completely over seeing me perform, so I usually do this with my friends while they do something else.

 

Now that it's cold, I want little more than a book by the fire or just talking with my family.

[Anne in CA]

I work. I work with fun intellectual people and I wouldn't have it any other way. I am excited for Friday to go to work, lol. But in the hospitality industry you have to be the sort of person who can have fun working while your friends are playing.

[lea_lpz]

We don't have a "weekend." My husband works most weekends, and has random days off during the week. My weekends look just like every other day right now.

 

Us, too!

 

I try to schedule one day off a week for dh & I to clean house together and do chores or projects and the other day off as a day to do things as a family.