Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of my Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is that a good weekend is one where
Speaker 1: every family member has something to look forward to. That
Speaker 1: includes the adults as well. Everyone can have their fun.
Speaker 1: I promise that there is enough time. You just have
Speaker 1: to think it through. So I tend to be the
Speaker 1: weekend planner in my household. Since you are listening to
Speaker 1: this podcast, my guess is that you are too, and
Speaker 1: creating a good weekend can be tough. There are always
Speaker 1: the things you have to do. There are also things
Speaker 1: that certain family members might want to do, like play
Speaker 1: dates or birthday part theaser, various kid activities. Then there
Speaker 1: are the adults. Believe it or not, sometimes adults want
Speaker 1: to do things on their weekends. Though we tend to
Speaker 1: chuck stuff like getting together with friends when the schedule
Speaker 1: gets complicated, or we expend so much energy scheduling other
Speaker 1: people's things that we don't schedule our own things. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: that can be a recipe for feeling like weekends are
Speaker 1: no fun whatsoever, And honestly, they aren't that fun when
Speaker 1: all it is is carting people around and running errands.
Speaker 1: We tend to get our free time with late night
Speaker 1: screen sessions and puttering. It's not as fun as other options,
Speaker 1: but it doesn't require planning, and if we've got enough
Speaker 1: going on, we assume that is the only choice. But
Speaker 1: it's seldom is. And I say this as a veteran
Speaker 1: weekend planner who is dealing with five kids of various ages.
Speaker 1: It does require being a to think through logistics. It
Speaker 1: requires being willing to treat weekends as important and fun
Speaker 1: as important too. So spend some time a few days
Speaker 1: ahead of the weekend thinking through what you'd like to do.
Speaker 1: I'd recommend doing this by Wednesday night. Indeed, you could
Speaker 1: set a recurring calendar reminder for Wednesday night to think
Speaker 1: this through. If your life is more complicated, you might
Speaker 1: need to start earlier. But some stuff isn't clear until
Speaker 1: midway through the week. And unless you live somewhere that
Speaker 1: the weather is always the same, this is going to
Speaker 1: affect stuff too. Meeting your friend with kids the same
Speaker 1: age at that new playground is going to be more
Speaker 1: fun on the day that it is sunny in sixty
Speaker 1: degrees than the day when it is rainy and forty
Speaker 1: degrees best to plan around that reality. One of the
Speaker 1: best ways to ensure that everyone has their fun is
Speaker 1: to plot out combination adventures. Maybe you, the adult, really
Speaker 1: wants to see an art museum it happens to be
Speaker 1: located near an outdoor ice skating rink that the kids
Speaker 1: would like to try. So Saturday, you spend an hour
Speaker 1: at the museum and go to the rink, and then
Speaker 1: maybe you get a late lunch afterwards at a restaurant
Speaker 1: all of you would like. Voila a combo adventure where
Speaker 1: no one feels to put out because you've all gotten
Speaker 1: something to look forward to. Perhaps you can take advantage
Speaker 1: of Half to do is to fit in fun as well.
Speaker 1: Put the bike rack on the car and while one
Speaker 1: child has their ninety minute ballet class, the parents and
Speaker 1: the other kid or kids go bike on a trail nearby.
Speaker 1: Ask kids if there are friends they'd like to see.
Speaker 1: I try to choose certain slots of the weekend for
Speaker 1: play dates and keep track of who has gotten to
Speaker 1: get together with people recently. Look for ways to fit
Speaker 1: in adult fund too, perhaps unorthodox times. If one kid
Speaker 1: has a soccer practice near another softball practice, the parents
Speaker 1: can drive each kid and then meet up for a
Speaker 1: thirty minute walk together before returning to each child's event.
Speaker 1: You could meet a friend during this time too, or
Speaker 1: you can use the early hours if you are willing
Speaker 1: to give up on the idea of sleeping in on weekends.
Speaker 1: This opens up all sorts of possibilities. Each parent can
Speaker 1: have one morning off. You could sleep, or you could
Speaker 1: go meet a friend for a twenty mile bike ride.
Speaker 1: If you are disciplined about your sleep during the week
Speaker 1: and going to bed on time, the bike ride could
Speaker 1: work just fine. If you have really little kids, a
Speaker 1: few hours of childcare can help too. It can be
Speaker 1: a babysitter, or maybe your gym has childcare so you
Speaker 1: can take that class you've been dying to try out.
Speaker 1: You just have to decide to do it. Anyway, come
Speaker 1: up with a rough schedule and share it with the
Speaker 1: others in your house hold. There may be suggestions or
Speaker 1: feedback which you can take or take with a grain
Speaker 1: of salt. I tend to think that if people are
Speaker 1: relying on you planning their weekends, then they have a
Speaker 1: certain obligation to go along with what you plan. Perhaps
Speaker 1: some might disagree with this, but a party who wishes
Speaker 1: to do nothing on a weekend. Cannot foist this choice
Speaker 1: on everyone else either. There has to be compromised, and
Speaker 1: no matter what happens, there will be some downtime. It's
Speaker 1: just a question of how much. But one of the
Speaker 1: best ways to bring a grumbler along is to make
Speaker 1: sure that you have planned in time for him or
Speaker 1: her to have some fun too. My husband doesn't grumble
Speaker 1: about the plans I make, but even so I always
Speaker 1: make sure there is time for him to go to
Speaker 1: the gym and go for a run. He may need
Speaker 1: to be flexible on when it happens, but I do
Speaker 1: make it happen, which means he can cover for me
Speaker 1: at other times. Everyone can have their fun, and on
Speaker 1: a good weekend everyone does, so why not challenge yourself
Speaker 1: to make it happen, including some fun for you. It
Speaker 1: takes a little creativity, but time is vast. It can work,
Speaker 1: and even a few hours on a weekend can go
Speaker 1: a long way towards changing the narrative of life being
Speaker 1: a slog to life being pretty cool. That is worth
Speaker 1: some planning work in the meantime. This is Laura, Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody.
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod
Speaker 1: that's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: At i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I
Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.