Giggles, that’s my alarm clock, as two li’l rascals tickle me. Rock music blasts from my pre-teen’s room. My consolation, the sweet aroma of breakfast which hubby prepared. This is the start of the Saturday! I wake up with excitement.
Saturdays are special. Time to taste new cuisine, explore new places, visit friends or relatives, or just do something different outside home. Each week is different. First and last week of the month, it’s either me or hubby, choose where we’re going. Mid-week, either kids get to plan our dayout.
So even if we can all just lazily stay at home and watch DVDs, even if it’s cheaper to stay at home on weekends, we wake up early to find out what’s in store for weekend. Not just my kids chuckle at this, grown-ups in our household also say: Yipee! Saturdays!
Hubby and I save and stretch our budget for Saturdays, because we can see what weekend family fun dayouts are doing for our kids. Here are some of them:
Table of Contents
Whole day bonding family fun.
Hubby and I have date nights with each of them, but every Saturday, we go out as one family. If they didn’t enjoy the first activity, they can make up for it the rest of the day.
Getting to know the kids more.
One Saturday, a group of friends, knocked at our door to invite my pre-teen to their hangout. But he said “Can’t go with you guys today. It’s day for the fam!!” I didn’t expect my growing pre-teen enjoys family day more. So I invited all of them. My son was quite reluctant at first, but obviously happier the rest of the day. That Saturday, I discovered how my son pulls himself when his friends joke around. I also get to know his friends even better.
Confidence, social and relational skills boost.
My two little kids are so sociable in school. Teachers and classmates alike are so fond of them. They didn’t inherit their social skills, they got it from mingling with different kinds of people in our weekend family dayouts. I encourage them to start a conversation with playmates at the park or mall (as long as we’re looking), their cousins at our home visits, our colleagues and grown-up friends who tag along sometimes, disabled elderly or children when we visit charities.
Being more open to parents.
Not all Saturdays are family fun laughter and adventures. Sometimes, there’s a little scolding in between. But we all make sure we end the day with a hug and a kiss. No need to rush chit-chats then go to bed because tomorrow is another busy weekday. If they need to tell us something, they have the entire day to let us know and even convince us of something they want (now that’s a problem for parents!). They know you’re available and have all day to listen to them, that if they have problems in school or with friends during weekdays, it’s easier for them to open up to us right away.
Anyway, tata for now! It’s Saturday, we’ll go skateboarding! 😉
