10 stress-free activities for weekends with children
Many of us get so stressed out on the weekends that we can’t wait to send the kids off to school on Monday. It does not have to be like that. Our 10 tips will help you enjoy the weekend, get your chores done, spend quality time with family, and leave rested and ready to face a new week.
1. Start slowly
Weekends are much sweeter when they start slowly, without rushing or shouting. We love to snuggle with the children in bed, have breakfast in our pajamas, watch cartoons, read books or chat. The kids love our weekend morning sleepover! The trick here is to give yourself permission to relax and tell yourself that this is the weekend, you don’t need to run anywhere and everything else can wait.
2. Spend time outdoors
Children in the middle of the morning begin to fret and act badly. That means it’s a perfect time to get dressed and head out. The park, playground, library, museum, beach, pool, zoo, nature walk, farmer’s market, neighborhood walk are all great places to visit even when nothing is going on. special. Children love unstructured play, they love to explore and discover new things. Young children especially need some time to run around and relax. That will also make them hungry for lunch and more tired for naps.
3. Have everyone help with lunch.
To take the stress out of lunch, it helps to focus on easy-to-make foods that the whole family will love and help prepare. Try macaroni and cheese with vegetables, soup with cheese and crackers, sandwiches and salads, baked fries and chicken nuggets, chips with salsa and guacamole, hot dogs or hamburgers. Make sure the kids help set the table and clean up by at least putting their dishes in the sink. Parents must remember to involve children and encourage them to help.
4. Have quiet time for parents and children
After some initial conditioning and power struggles, this will be the best and most relaxing part of the weekend. There should be a rule that everyone should stay in their room (preferably their bed) and be super quiet. They don’t have to sleep if they don’t want to. They can read, color, play, look at the ceiling, as long as they do it in silence. This rule has numerous benefits. First of all, everyone has some free time, which prevents tantrums later in the afternoon. Second, parents get a much-needed break to rest, nap, or read a book in bed. It is important that one of the parents announce that the parents also need to rest and stay in their bedroom.
5. Do chores in the afternoon
After the nap, everyone will be rested and looking forward to a delicious snack. Try cheese sticks, apples, oranges, peanut butter, pretzels, cookies, and even ice cream for the occasional treat. If you need to go shopping, now is the perfect time as the kids are rested, full, and more likely to cooperate. This is also a great time to cook dinner or bake a special dessert together, have the kids help put clothes in the washer, dust and vacuum, or do your other chores. Make sure you have music and lively conversation. With everyone in a good mood, in less than an hour you will have a relatively clean house with delicious smells from the kitchen.
6. Play with your children
Children will be eager to help if you promise to do an activity of their choice as soon as all the tasks are done. This could include playing catch outside, coloring, dressing up, getting manicures, playing video games, playing hide-and-seek, or running around the block. Whatever it is, you have to follow its instructions. Most likely, all of you will laugh and have fun. You will also get to know your children better and learn more about their interests and personality.
7. Make bath time extra special.
Children will run to bathe with very little effort from parents. Usually a lot of bubbles is enough to do the trick, but if you let the kids choose which bubbles they like and pour them, and you provide them with lots of bath toys, it will be hard to get them out of the tub. Having attractive towels and robes helps, but what will help the most is the special incentive of movies and popcorn.
8. Movies and popcorn
At this point everyone is exhausted but not yet tired enough to go to bed. This is a great time for everyone (yes, the parents too) to throw on some cozy pajamas, make some popcorn, and curl up on the couch for a good movie.
9. Talk about your day
After a bath and a movie, kids should be pretty sleepy. Before lights out, ask them to choose a short book to read or music to listen to before bed. Tell them how good they have been all day and talk about all the fun things they did that day. Ask them what they liked best and what they would like to do tomorrow. Tell them how much you love them and how big they are getting. Assure them that you will come and check on them every few minutes until they fall asleep.
And the most important tip:
10. RELAX!
This is the hardest and most important thing to do. The things that stress us out are usually inside our heads. They are caused by our own unrealistic expectations of a perfectly clean house, small children with perfect manners, our ability to foresee and prevent all falls, scraped knees, and tantrums. We just need to accept that our house will never be clean for more than five minutes, and children will occasionally disobey. We have to learn to let go of all those things and instead find each positive and happy moment and savor it.
