Working parents..? bedtimes, dinner, making of packed lunches and still have free time?

thriftylass

onwards&upwards wrote: »

Are you not worried they’ll miss out? No cubs or brownies, no swimming lessons, no dancing or drama or bands or sports that aren’t done in school?

svain wrote: »

All these after school clubs are a modern phenomenon .... Kids do perfectly well without having all there spare time micro managed by activities

onwards&upwards wrote: »

Well yeah they survive, but loads of kids really enjoy them, just seems a shame to completely rule them all out.

As I work full time most of the clubs are out of our reach anyway as they start at 4 or 4:30 etc. I don't finish till 5. We take them swimming on weekends or to the occasional horse riding lesson. I'm not worried that they'll miss out if I don't keep up with the Jones'. Plus DS is not too worried. He likes the football in school. He tried an evening chess club and football club and wasn't keen on either for various reasons. DD can't wait to start Karate in school etc. I like the idea of sth like Brownies etc but again, not at a time that working parents could accommodate.

Plus when we tried the evening clubs it was a mad rush after a long day in school and after school club and we missed another day or two of family evening time and dinner time together.

GreenQueen

svain wrote: »

All these after school clubs are a modern phenomenon .... Kids do perfectly well without having all there spare time micro managed by activities

Are they? I was a kid in the 1960s/70s and I did guides, piano lessons, church choir, bellringing, and still managed to read huge amounts of my own choice as well as homework. Some kids are naturally busy and fill their time, others prefer to have unstructured relaxation.

onwards&upwards

thriftylass wrote: »

As I work full time most of the clubs are out of our reach anyway as they start at 4 or 4:30 etc. I don't finish till 5. We take them swimming on weekends or to the occasional horse riding lesson. I'm not worried that they'll miss out if I don't keep up with the Jones'. Plus DS is not too worried. He likes the football in school. He tried an evening chess club and football club and wasn't keen on either for various reasons. DD can't wait to start Karate in school etc. I like the idea of sth like Brownies etc but again, not at a time that working parents could accommodate.

Plus when we tried the evening clubs it was a mad rush after a long day in school and after school club and we missed another day or two of family evening time and dinner time together.

I think it’s unfair to suggest that parents who let their kids do after school clubs and activities are doing it to ‘keep up with the joneses’. I don’t think Brownies or scouts are exactly social climbing!

thriftylass

onwards&upwards wrote: »

I think it’s unfair to suggest that parents who let their kids do after school clubs and activities are doing it to ‘keep up with the joneses’. I don’t think Brownies or scouts are exactly social climbing!

Yes, sorry that was maybe poorly worded. But some clubs you can only do if you can afford to/are able to work part time (like gymnastics and cubs in this city). And it's not necessarily about "letting" them do clubs. Some work/life situations, times of clubs, cost etc won't allow it.

It's also not fair to assume my kids miss out because I don't work part time and can take them to clubs outside school. BTW our school offers a wide range of activities and pupils from three different schools mix. So I don't see how they would miss out anyway by going during after school club hours rather than at 6 or 7pm and loosing their evening.



Sorry we slightly diverted the original thread topic . But basically if you work a day full time then on that day is not much free time unless you make time by getting up earlier, preparing food on other days when you have more time, letting your partner bath the kids while you nip to the gym etc etc. All depends how much free time you'd want and for what.

Autumnella

What does your husband do while you are sorted the bottles, making packed lunches and cooking dinner? Does he help? If not you could probably half the time if one of you did the bottles and packed lunches while the other made dinner.

Overall though, it sounds like a pretty good routine for someone with small children.