Spin-off: If you're a SAHM, what do you "do" on the weekends?

[Elilly]

I left my 30 hour/wk job to stay at home more. I've found that I'm getting my cooking, library, cleaning, errands etc. done during the week so there is little that I have to do on the weekends. Since our income is now limited, I don't feel as if we can spend a ton of money on the weekends either. So, I'm curious. What do you do on the weekends?

[jenmcadams]

My kids are involved in sports teams so we're often running in different directions for games or related events. Seems like we're back in the middle of birthday party season and those are generally on the weekend.

As far as outings, we have memberships to the zoo, science museum, etc. and do those as a family on the weekends (or my DH takes just the kids and I get a break). We also hike a ton, work in the yard and just hang out as a family (play board games, wii, read)

[lchang25000]

Not much since DS is only 13.5 months, but we do occasionally get a babysitter to come over so we can go out to dinner/hang out with friends. Of course we do "family things" during the day.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Since our kids are small, plentiful and close together, much of our weekend is filled with childcare and all the errands I can't eek out from 8-9pm. We go to church on Sunday and try to relax around the house, go for a walk/ride, visit with family members, etc.

[Pennylane]

We are so busy during the week that on the weekends we stay at home a lot! We play outside if the weather is nice, work in the yard, go on bike rides, occasionally head to the zoo. My DH works long hours so the kids are just excited to be home with him. We always go out for Sunday breakfast and sometimes a movie. I am not a fan of crowds, so I love not having to get out!

Ann

[g-mama]

Not as much housework, more family time.

Like the pp, we have sports (soccer games), school events, birthday parties, and extended family get-togethers. Dh and I sometimes spend time doing projects, the kids play with neighborhood kids or invite school friends over for playdates. I cook much less on weekends so we go out to eat more.

[KrisM]

We do family things. This weekend, I'm selling at a mom2mom sale and DH is taking the kids to the Home Depot kids workshop. We often visit my parents, or go sledding or to the park, or do projects around the house that really need 2 adults so the kids aren't in the way.

[crl]

Dh is often working. When he's not we try to do outings--zoo, beach, etc. DS has a birthday party about once a month. DS has Sat. morning swim too.

This weekend we have,
Sat. morning swim
Sat. afternoon Ds goes to friend's house for playdate supervised by friend's husband, friend comes to my house to help me with project. Then I buy pizza for everyone for dinner to say thank you.
Sun. birthday part at 1pm, plus we have to fit in a quick trip to the aquarium for school

I usually feel like our weekends are really full.

Catherine

[newg]

We mostly do family stuff............hanging out with other family and friends, running some errands that are more fun to do as a family. Once the weather gets nice we'll do a lot of stuff outside on the weekends.

[Melaine]

Hang out. :) We do parks, the zoo, shopping (for fun), sometimes go out to eat, projects around the house, visit my parents. We used to have friends over a lot on weekends but that has seriously decreased this flu season. Hopefully we can get back to entertaining more soon. Once it is summer, we'll probably go to the splash pad every weekend. DH and I can lay out in the sun while the girls run around in the water....blissful.

[mecawa]

My weekends are usually spent going to the hairdressers (not every week of course) and running other types of errands that are hard to run when the kiddos are with me. I don't really have anyone to watch them during the week so anything that needs to get done without them does on Sat or Sun when DH is home.

[ThreeofUs]

Kid stuff. Rotate clothes. Laundry.

[MelissaTC]

DS plays sports 3 seasons out of the year so inevitably we are going to a sports game of some sort. Add in church activities, social commitments, birthday parties, etc.., and we are pretty busy people on the weekends. I also try to get to the gym.

[baymom]

DD and DS have sports games on the weekends, typically. Depending on the season, we are running to softball, basketball, t-ball, soccer on Saturday mornings. Other then that (and attending birthday parties), we try to get some errands done, play games, go to the library, visit family, have friends over, ect. When we weather is nicer, we like to go to the beach, hike, ride bikes, go to a local amusement park we have a membership to, do things outside...

[maylips]

I'm impressed you all have it together enough! I still seem to find plenty of housework to do on the weekends. :( Still trying to figure it out.

[fivi2]

My weekends are usually spent going to the hairdressers (not every week of course) and running other types of errands that are hard to run when the kiddos are with me. I don't really have anyone to watch them during the week so anything that needs to get done without them does on Sat or Sun when DH is home.

:yeahthat: Usually one day is spent doing errands that are hard with kids while dh plays with the girls at home. (sometimes they go places). The other day is usually some sort of outing/birthday party/swimming/hiking/etc. They are about to start soccer, so that will take up time on the weekends. And we visit my sister and her kids or go to their games (variety of sports). We stay pretty busy!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Nothing...and it's fabulous. :)

We take ds2 to music class on Sat. mornings. We usually have 1 or 2 activities planned (social visits, park...). But, most of the time we simply hang out at home together.

Beth

[lmwbasye]

I'm impressed you all have it together enough! I still seem to find plenty of housework to do on the weekends. :( Still trying to figure it out.

This is me too. I feel like the only difference between my weekdays and weekends is that DH is physically there and there is no preschool.

Sigh. One day I'll get it together. :(

[tiapam]

This is me too. I feel like the only difference between my weekdays and weekends is that DH is physically there and there is no preschool.

Sigh. One day I'll get it together. :(

I'm right there with you both! Feel like I'm making a little headway lately (still have New Year's momentum, been organizing a bit), so I have high hopes for the future. I do think this depends a lot on the number and age(s) of your kids.

If I had big chunks of free (and kid free) time, I would use it to help my dad with his house. There's always something.

[firsttimemama]

Some people thrive on being busy - I am not one of those people. The less I *have* to do on the weekend, the better a weekend it is to me.

The one thing I try to do every weekend, is get some time AWAY by myself. I usually get at least a couple of hours, most weekends. I am a SAHM and I need this time to stay sane.

Also, grocery shopping alone does not = quality time alone, for me.
A trip to Target can count, because I can actually look at something I want to look at if DS isn't with me :) as opposed to grabbing everything quickly and having to run out because he's "done". I try to vary my time away though. Sit at the coffeeshop. the bookstore. go see a friend. movie. etc.

[maestramommy]

To tell the truth, I do almost exactly the same thing on weekends as I do during the week. The main difference is that Dh is there to help me out with the kids. But I'm still doing the cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. However, recently Dh has stepped up with helping me with the laundry. Like if he's around and the wash is done, he puts it in the dryer, hangs it up, or takes it out of the dryer. Once he even folded it. :love5:

[DrSally]

Since DH travels, we use weekends as family time. I also do prep cooking, organizing, and cleaning that needs more devoted time than I can get with the kids under my feet.

[Pepper]

I'm impressed you all have it together enough! I still seem to find plenty of housework to do on the weekends. :( Still trying to figure it out.

Yah, I do a lot of cleaning on the weekends too, when my DH takes our son out of the house for some Daddy Time. I do get some "me time" in on most Saturdays, tho - I joined our local Public Access cable station a few years ago. I c0-produce a cooking show with one of my friends. It's a great hobby if you have the interest, and doesn't cost a lot of money. Annual membership fees at our station are just 25 bucks a year. The let you borrow the cameras to tape your show, and they have really nice Macs on which you do all the editing. And if you don't want to produce a wole show on your own, there are always other members who are looking for help with their shows, so you can pick and choose what to do as your schedule permits.

It is a little unusual as a hobby...but it's a lot of fun! Plus, it really helps to spend time doing something that lasts - I love to cook but once you've EATEN that dinner, it's gone. It takes us several months to complete a show, but then we have it forever.

[gatorsmom]

The kids have some activities Saturday until noon, then we somehow always find things to do. Either DH is fixing things in the house or we play in the yard for awhile, or lately he's been taking them downhill skiing whenever possible, or just whatever. I'm not sure but we always seem to be busy! We go to church on Sundays at 11am and then out to lunch afterwards. We get home about 2pm, get the twins down for a nap and read the newspaper until it's time to start homework/prep for Monday again.

[salsah]

cook, clean, laundry, errands, etc. it is like any other day of the week but harder because there is no preschool and dh is around.

[BelleoftheBallFlagstaff]

Pretty much the same stuff I do during the week. We try to do something as a family, but DH has been going snowboarding every Sunday, so that feels like my Monday.

[JTsMom]

Saturdays are usually more like a weekday here b/c DH works the majority of them. On those that he has off, and on Sundays, we're usually running around like crazy people trying to get projects done. This Sunday we cleaned/organized the garage, had to go to an inspection on the rental we turned over, hung shelves and loaded them, I did several loads of laundry, we ran several errands, etc. Craziness all day.

We try to make sure that sometimes we let everything else go and just focus on relaxing though. We probably need to do a lot more of that, but it feels like we're often playing catch-up.