Weekender

Anything that involves spending time together... Go camping, take a drive and day trip at a lake, go hiking, have a water fight and grill in the back yard, set up a volleyball net and play some games with it. (Badminton, volleyball, water balloon volleyball, etc.)

Don't over plan things. If you are doing an outing just do it 1 day and do something low key on the other so our outing will be something they'll remember instead of just another thing. If your children are very young don't tell them ahead of time what you'll be doing. Just throw them in the car and go. Sometimes things come up so the trip to the zoo you were planning is cancelled because someone is sick. Not telling them ahead of time makes sure that no one is disappointed.

Adventures don't have to cost a lot of money. A day hiking or at the playground can be as much fun as a day at a museum. Keep an eye out of free stuff.

Most of all don't think of it as creating 'quality time' with your kids. Its just spending time with them. The quality happens when you least expect it.

How many kids and how old are they?

My thing is: Plan to do about 1-3 things per day. Those things can be anything from going to a science museum to doing a playdate to taking a walk and getting brunch. I find that if I don't plan anything, my son is just home all day, campaigning to play video games. If I plan too many things, we're dashing from one thing to the other, late for everything, and it's the opposite of relaxing. But if we plan a few things -- fun but not over the top -- and we have more than enough time to get from point A to point B -- it's a great weekend.

We like to spend one day doing something fun...a family hike, going to a festival or a museum, going paddling in a canoe on the river, or going on a family bike ride. We love to do a family camping trip a few times every year. My son really enjoys down time, so we try to have one day each weekend where we are mellow at home. The kids like to walk the dog with me, help wash the car, and help me bake cookies. While doing this I chat with them and listen to what they have to say.

I think having a sense of predictability is important for kids, so we do have a rhythm to our weekends. I work to make sure we have a good balance of activity and down time, that everyone gets a bit of time to do what is important for them. We also have some weekend traditions, like Saturday night is 'pile on the big bed for vintage Batman (or another show)'; we try to have some nice things to look forward to for everyone.

I have always tried to keep up with what was going on around town, especially the free stuff. If there was something that sounded like fun and was free! We would decide if we wanted to go alone or maybe invite others to meet up with us. We tried to make these plans by Thursday. If not we would play it by ear.

I knew I always purchased our groceries on Sunday afternoons. We have an ongoing list.

We used to sleep in one day.. and take it easy, let our daughter play outside, My husband and I would take turn running errands.

I noticed this weekend all of the Local Museums in our are are having free admission! If our daughter were here we would totally try to visit one or 2. We would pack up the cooler with drinks, snacks, maybe even a picnic lunch. we could picnic on the grounds of one of the museums.

Sometimes we would go and visit a grand parent. All of our family pretty much lives here this this is a routine thing we do.

If it was raining, we went to the local book store! What a treat!

If we had projects we would work on those. Sundays were the day I love to go out for breakfast. Our daughter not so much so as she got older, 4th grade and older, she stayed home and slept in. Then any chores we would get those done. Maybe a movie in the afternoon. We would make sure we were set for the week with lunches, dinners, any special events , we would plan on who what and when and start gathering the things for those events..

Through all of this all of the clothes are being washed, dried and folded so that by Sunday night all of the wash was done and put away.

A few times we do go to events out of town for the weekend. "The Texas Renaissance Faire" is one of our annual trips if we can afford it. We also used to have a trailer so we would go camping some weekends

Families need some down time. If your kids get out of school and come straight home and don't do anything else then yes, it would be nice to do something to get out of the house on the weekends. But if they have activities and homework and busy stuff in the evenings during the week then maybe you can plan some fun stuff on the weekend but not over do it.

Planning ahead. I hate waking up on a Saturday morning and wondering "what are we going to do this weekend?" or finding out the kids friends are all busy. Plan where you are going, what you are eating, what you are doing and who you are doing it with ahead of time. Have alternate plans in case of inclement weather. Makes for much more enjoyable weekends. Of course once in a while don't plan anything and just take a break, veg out and eat junk.