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I love the weekends. A two day break from the daily hustle and bustle of the work week.
In my pre-momma and teaching days, the weekends were used to catch up on house chores, work on projects, run errands, write lesson plans, catch up on grading, visit with family and take day trips with the hubby.
Now, as a stay-at-home momma to a toddler and newborn, the way in which I (we) spend our weekends has changed.
My husband works long hours during the week. He is a computer programmer by day and a swim coach by night. He works 12-14 hour days. As a result, we don’t get to see him much Monday through Friday. He works this many hours to make it possible for me to stay home. One of the sacrifices our family made was less time together during the week.
Therefore, the weekends are all about family time (and downtime for my hubby). From enjoying meals together to visiting our favorite places, we spend the weekends as a family. Our priority is being together and making up for the time spent apart during the week. Sometimes we spend our weekend completing a house project, but most of the time Saturday and Sunday are spent playing at home together or getting out of the house as a family.
I’m going to share with you 8 of our favorite ways to spend time together as a family on the weekends. All of these cost little to no money, take advantage of what is in your community and help you create fun family memories that leave you feeling happy come Sunday evening.
Visit A Local Bakery
My husband started taking our daughter to the local bakery shortly after our son was born. Every Sunday morning, if my husband doesn’t coach a swim meet, he takes our daughter to the Egypt Star Bakery to pick out donuts for breakfast. My daughter, two years old, looks forward to picking out her “doonut”. Her favorite one is the vanilla frosted with rainbow sprinkles. This is a special family treat and we are supporting a local business.
Walk Around the Mall
Going to the mall is one way to get out of the house as a family, especially during the winter months. Our mall has a small kid play area that includes climbing equipment and machines that play music. It is the perfect area for toddlers because it is just their size and allows them to get out all that energy. Pushing the buttons on the machines and dancing to the music is a favorite! While at the mall, we also visit the Disney Store and just give our daughter an opportunity to stretch out those little legs by walking around. We talk about the things we see in the windows and around the mall.
Visit With Family & Friends
Monday through Friday is a hard time to schedule long visits with family and friends. I do see some friends and family during the day since I am home, but my husband is limited to seeing family on the weekends.
Every Sunday, we enjoy a home cooked meal at my in-laws’ house. We get out of the house and our daughter enjoys the company of her MomMom and SamPa. She loves playing in their basement.
Some weekends include a visit from my mom, who lives about 90 minutes away. My brother will also come visit on a weekend. Our daughter is all about playing with Babcia and Uncle Albert.
Some weekends include visiting with friends we don’t see often.
No matter who we visit with on the weekends, the time available to us on Saturday and Sunday makes it possible for extended visits with family and friends. We don’t feel rushed by our schedule and it is a nice change of pace for us.
Go to A Museum
We are fortunate enough to have several museums in our area. There is a kid-friendly science museum, a transportation museum and several art museums in our community. Usually, these museums hold special weekend events. Also, the art museums are usually free on Sundays. This is a way to encourage families to visit them and see what they have to offer. Some of the art museums have a kid area that is specially geared towards toddlers and preschoolers. This is a nice bonus and makes visiting the art museum more engaging for our busy two year old!
Visit the Library
The library is always a great place to go as a family! You can pick out new books to read together at home, look for a new family movie to watch or just spend time reading books. Best of all, the books and movies are free!
Our library just added a pretty spacious kid area. There is a train table, shelves/bins of toys, and baskets of wooden puzzles. Sometimes our library even schedules special family storytimes on a Saturday morning. Visiting the library is definitely a great place to spend time as a family on a Saturday or Sunday morning.
Run Errands
Our most common activity to do as a family on the weekends is run errands. We usually visit the grocery store and then a few additional stores just to walk around. These stores include Target, Kohl’s and Costco. If there are other places we need to go, we visit these as well. Sometimes, if it is a quick in and out, I will run into the store while my husband stays in the car with the kiddos. When we go into the store, my husband usually gives all of his attention to our daughter. They walk through the toy aisles where she enjoys exploring the toys and seeing all the baby dolls. We also browse the books and the greeting cards. Our daughter loves reading cards! At the grocery store, our daughter enjoys putting items into the cart, loading items onto the counter at the register and helping us put the groceries into the bags. We try to make running errands a fun time together as a family. Usually we end our errands with lunch/dinner at Chik Fila or by picking up a pizza to eat at home.
Family Movie Night
A recent addition to our favorite weekend family activities is watching a Disney movie after naptime. Our daughter is really into the Disney Princesses. She also enjoys the Disney Pixar Short Films. We make popcorn and sit together while watching a movie. Our first family movie night was shortly after our son was born and we watched Snow White. A family movie night is relaxing and a special way to spend time together on the weekends.
Go to the Playground
We are fortunate enough to have several playgrounds within walking distance of our house. The playground is a wonderful way to get some fresh air, enjoy the sunshine and let your kiddos get out some energy. Our daughter loves going down the slide, climbing up the playground equipment and being pushed on the swings.
The time available to us on the weekends is precious. It always seems to go so fast, too! We want to enjoy every minute of our time together as a family of four. The 8 ideas described in this post are ways you can get out of the house as a family, spend little to no money and create fun family memories.
What is your favorite way to spend time together as a family on the weekends? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!
We do so many of the things you mentioned! We are actually trying to plan a way to get out of the house this weekend even though the weather may not be great. The options that are in the running include spending time with some friends we haven’t seen much of lately or taking Paxton to a children’s museum near us. Doing activities like the ones you mentioned is a great way to bond without spending tons of money!
That’s great Lauren! Spending time with friends and visiting the children’s museum sound like great activities for the weekend. Too bad the weather won’t be great. Being a one income household, we are always finding ways to spend time together as a family without spending a lot of money! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy your weekend 🙂
Our favorite weekend activities are family game night and movies together. It’s so special to play a game as a family.
That’s great Trish! Playing games and watching movies are definitely two of my favorite family activities, too 🙂 You are making so many great memories with your kids!
I adore all of these ideas!! Now that I’m working during the weekend, the weekends are even more important to us! 🙂 I’m going to try out all of these ideas!
Thank you Danielle! I bet the weekends are very precious to you. Just remember that the house chores and piles of laundry will always be there, but this time with Baby J is so precious and you deserve to cherish it on the weekend 🙂 I can only imagine how happy he is to spend time with his momma on Saturday and Sunday!
We’re both parents who work out of the home, so are still doing the “catch up/family time balance” on the weekend. This article is a great reminder that no matter how busy we are, we need to prioritize family time and being together. It can be so easy to try and fill in every hour with all the things you need to catch up on, but shouldn’t come at the expense of your family.
Thank you for the comment Carly! I bet finding the perfect balance for your family is challenging! I’m guilty of filling time while my husband is home on the weekends to catch up on house projects or other projects, but try to stop myself from doing that all weekend. Family time should definitely be a priority, especially when there is so much time spent away from each other during the week 🙂