Do learn hard into your to-do list? Do you plan a ton of travel? Lots of unstructured time? I’ve been thinking a lot about how we structure our own family weekends…
(Last weekend I tried to keep my camera on me and took some photos documenting our average weekend at home. I never take enough pictures of our daily life)
At first I had entitled this piece, What’s A Perfect Weekend Like For You, but then came to the conclusion that the conversation I wanted to have wasn’t really about that at all. Everyone has weekend dreams of romantic getaways, major house organization, and late night boozy dinner parties with good friends.
There are times that our weekends are jam packed, and other times when it feels like weekends come and go with virtually nothing on the agenda at all. I used to dread those unscheduled weekends. This past Christmas holiday we had more than a week of completely unscheduled time. I have to be honest, it terrified me as it approached.
It made me re-think our family time at home, especially weekend and holiday time. So, since then- over the last couple of months I’ve made a conscious decision to not schedule our weekends. Or at least minimal scheduling.
In this piece, Have a Happier Weekend, they recommend scheduling 3-5 ‘anchor’ events, although that seems like overkill to me especially with little kids that require constant attention, even during the downtime. I’ve found that more than 3 events (baseball game, a dinner party, an organizational project) is too much. If there’s more than that, the spontaneous downtime gets lost and in some cases, completely absent from our weekend. I don’t like that feeling of being busier on a weekend than a weekday.
This post is such fun! For me the right balance is something outside, something social, something yummy and something productive (like a home or yard project). This looks different depending on the season, but I’m always happiest when I’ve ticked all those boxes.
Kile that is exactly what we strive for on OUR weekends! Thanks for sharing.
Great idea! Love thinking about them in categories for the right balance
This is one of the joys of moving far away from friends and family. There are many negative aspects but one of the definite positives is that we have our weekends to ourselves with very little commitments.
That much be such a nice break!
I have 3 girls (ages 12, 10 & 7) and I crave downtime on the weekends and too many scheduled events wears us all out. But I also try to get the girls to finish homework and weekend tasks (put away laundry, practice piano, etc.) early in the weekend so that they can enjoy the lazy days – but this rarely happens and then Sunday night ends up being more stressful than I had hoped. It’s a process for us for sure.
I like that idea of getting things done in the morning and having lazy afternoons!
I have two girls, ages 6 and 7, and my husband and I both work full-time. For our weekends, I aim for one scheduled event each weekend day. Weekend down-time at home is key – I want my girls to unwind and relax, and I love puttering around the house (baking, putzing in the kitchen, laundry-laundry-laundry, organizing, etc).
I’m a big planner, so often our weekends have events sprinkled in a month in advance. We also host a lot of gatherings and parties at our house, which I love – this coming Sunday we’re having a playdate with five girlfriends and their moms, and I’ve already been thinking about the lunch menu (which I determined yesterday to be homemade quiche and green salad, and buttermilk waffles with fruit for the girls – all homemade). A gathering as such pulls my attention and time with the planning and cooking, which is something I truly enjoy, and my girls end up with a super fun playdate with friends!
That sounds so lovely!
Your weekend looks so warm! Family time really is the best. 🙂 Me, I usually spend Saturdays out with my friends exploring a new place, and Sundays at home just relaxing. 😀
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
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