What about you? What do you do on slow weekends with your kids?
Make a list with the kids.
I have 3, ages 5, 4, and 2. On slow Saturday mornings we sit together and make a list of the things we’d like to do and the jobs we want to get done.
Before bed we go over the list and talk about what we did and what we missed.
Often on the list:
- Watch TV, always the first. “Let’s put it on our list” was originally a way to avoid saying “not now” or “we’ll see”.
- Go swimming.
- Go to the park.
- Lego and Duplo.
- Stories.
- Ride a train. (I have a pass for work, they go free.)
- Coffee shop or coffee shop at home. (Small table in living room, chairs, we all sit and have a warm drink together.)
- Cook a curry together.
- Do some tidying.
- Drawing.
It takes around 20 minutes to make the list, and I’ve found makes them more motivated and helpful all through the day. Any time we finish one thing we look at the list and pick the next. If we pick something they don’t both want to do — well, they know there are other things on the list to do later.
I hope this teaches them a good habit. Making good choices about anything usually starts with listing your options, and that includes how to spend your time. If I ever feel I don’t know what to do, listing at least ten options always gives me something useful to work with.
Even as adults “watch TV” is rarely the thing we most want to do — but it’s often the first thing that springs to mind.
