Feel as young as your kids
Take the hard work out of weekends by letting your children show you how to have to a good time.
It’s easy to fall into the ‘mum’ trap: the notion that somehow we are responsible for all family enjoyment. Make 2011 the year when you don’t work too hard at having fun!
• Dig out your old games. Games like Wii have revolutionised the social aspect of playing computer games, but taking time to show your kids how to play games from your childhood is part of the down-time process that helps you all unwind. Indeed, some researchers believe the build up and then release of tension in a game involving strategy and risk can be therapeutic!
• Read your child’s books. What is your kid reading at the moment? OK, so some parents will read Harry Potter when their kids have finished with it, but other authors like Roddy Doyle, Roald Dahl and Eoin Colfer have written books for children that are just as funny or gripping to grown-ups, so don’t miss out. See also Reading with 5- to 10-year-olds.
• Keep a ball in your handbag. Don’t stand around chatting to other mums, join in an impromptu session of rounders or catch ball. It doesn’t have to demand high levels of fitness. Or, if you walk to school, try racing each other to the next lamp post or the next car, then walking for a stretch, then running again, and so on. It’s actually really good fun!
Savvy tip
Trust your kids to get organised. Enthusiastically following through your kids’ agenda for one Saturday – what radio station you listen to at breakfast, a trip out, what you’re going to eat for dinner – is quite a simple but surprisingly liberating experience.
Pass it on – find something new near you!
The Enjoy England website has lots of great ideas for days out local to you. Choose something just a little more daring that gives you a new challenge as well as the kids.