The issue of what to do with your weekends as a family can get a bit controversial. For many of us, weekends tend to be two days of cramming in as much of everything we can’t or don’t get done during the week and we hit Monday morning more exhausted than we were on Friday evening! How is your family utilizing weekends? Is it used for relaxation, family time, chores, or homework?!
I tend to find myself working through the weekends, but I do try to get in a little socializing as well. I notice with my kids that they are definitely victims of trying to squeeze as much into their weekends as possible too. When they were younger, we seemed to always have sports events and birthday parties on the weekends, and while they have more control over their own schedules now that they are all in high school—there is really a pull between getting all the homework done, spending time with friends, family activities and just laying around in their pajamas watching television. It’s almost as if they have to “schedule” what to do with every hour of their weekends!
My eldest daughter has so much homework during the weeks, it seems such a shame that she has to spend a big chunk of the weekend doing homework too—but that is often how it goes. She’s learned to multi-task her down time—watching a movie with friends while doing homework, taking a book to the movies to read before the show starts, doing work during a family dinner, etc. I’m quite convinced that isn’t a good thing but my encouraging her to NOT do her homework is also not the best kind of additional pressure for a mom to be participating in.
I remember the weekends of my own childhood as really being times for family, friends and relaxing. Those two long days of visiting, church, movies, baking cookies, etc. stand out in my mind as a genuine time to recharge for the work week ahead. That’s definitely NOT how weekends go around our house now. How about you? What is your family doing with your weekends?