I think I’ve spent about 14 or 15 hours over the last two and a bit days, poolside watching my son compete. Suffering a bit from cabin fever, only one more day to go.

Not sleep.

Suppress the red hot burning ball of rage that they cause deep inside?

Or coach the youngest ones football team.

One of those.

Suppress the red hot burning ball of rage that they cause deep inside?

+1

not coping very well with that today however, and sometimes you need to take a step back and think they are just kids being kids,

but JESUS **** CHRIST

Up early tomorrow. Swimming practise, rugby matches then a music exam. Should be home by 3pm.

🙄

Sit at home counting all the time and money I’ve saved by not having any.

(-:

Pretend that their mother is not satan

My daughter is learning to play the flute.

I’m suffering for her art.

Just think and be very, very grateful that in about 32 years time they’ll find someone and get a place of their own. And then ask for you to child-mind / baby-sit!

Mine = 21yrs, 16yrs, 12yrs 🙄

I own a 4 year old and 2 year old. Much of the time I’m bored beyond belief.

Does it get better?

Sit at home counting all the time and money I’ve saved by not having any.

yet with all the endless possibilities, and extra time, and money, you still end up in the same thread as us

I own a 4 year old and 2 year old. Much of the time I’m bored beyond belief.

Does it get better?

gets worse! does your 4 year old act like he’s 2 and the 2 think he’s 4?

because i have 2, 7 year olds who are 1 & 3 and a 7 year old, who thinks he’s 1 again,

and an angst ridden pd 5 year old just to stir the pot

yet with all the endless possibilities, and extra time, and money, you still end up in the same thread as us

Touché.

TBH I was mostly interested in what people had to say.

Schadenfreude, perhaps. (-:

Tomorrow we have swimming lessons at 8am, followed by Junior Parkrun at 9. It’s a brutal start to a Sunday.

Hand out my cash in increasingly larger and larger amounts with more frequency relative to their age. When will it stop?

I’ll counter by saying he’s done brilliantly and I’m really pleased for him but Jesus it’s warm there. I’m thinking shorts tomorrow. And I did get to spend a lovely 2 or 3 hours with my daughter who tolerated me browsing LP’s and then got her own back in the Harry Potter shop. £40! for a pretend wand! In between we spent a nice hour in the museum.

Tomorrow I will be taking mine mountain biking. More accurately we will doing laps of flat twisty single-track and not a mountain in sight.

Today amongst other things I played Forza 6 with the youngest while eldest helped run a stall at his school fair with his mum.

Mrs GD does most of the mid week stuff and running about and sits with them through Strictly.

It’s pretty good really. They love their bikes but that may change in time. I hope that they retain their love of being outside no matter how their interests change.

The wand chooses the witch.

think I’ve spent about 14 or 15 hours over the last two and a bit days, poolside watching my son compete. Suffering a bit from cabin fever, only one more day to go

Been there, bought the swim kit, and the programme, and the raffle tickets. Never mind the 6am training. Or the officiating. Or the lifeguarding. The reasonably priced hotels of Sheffield. The year’s must have suit. The fluffed turn, the amazing start. The tears, the joy.

It was worth it – suck it up

Paypaypaypaypaypaypaypaypaypaypaypay…

I’ve had to wind in my boarding, biking, climbing and table tennis for a few years, now having to re-hone my skills to keep up with 12 year old. Also had to learn to open canoe to take family out and that was truly life enhancing. Athletics competitions the main downside!

Erm, yeah they cost a bit of money now and again…. I think we clicked over the £35k mark on childcare for the youngest recently but did it, the the purpose of money is to be spent and I’m not bitter about my lack of Porsche Cayman, anyway…

Youngest has meant taking a back seat in my career so I can do the school run, leave early when I need too and Work form Home fridays.

The eldest is a serial hobbiest, swimming, karate, climbing, gymnastics, trampoline and sometimes he’ll ride a bike, I’ve willingly given over piles of cash and time so he can do it.

Youngest is mad on her balance bike which I love being Imvolved with, she’s a gumnast too, but Wife takes her.

Harry_the_Spider – Member
My daughter is learning to play the flute.

I’m suffering for her art.

So’s tyred jr the younger. Thought the same as you, then he revealed his mate’s learning the saxophone. That has to be several degrees worse.

I’m sat in bed in a premier inn room being quiet while the two of them lie sleeping, ahead of CX racing tomorrow. We’re all racing, so can’t claim its just for them but tomorrow’s early rise sure will be.

Sounds *great*…. Where do I sign up?

My daughter is learning to play the flute.

I’m suffering for her art.

Amateur! I will raise you a daughter learning to play the viola. I have brought a hammer!

Monday – Cubs
Tuesday – Piano lessons
Wednesday- Swimming lessons
Thursday – yay for Thursdays!
Friday – Dance class
Saturday – Maths/English lessons (am) followed by musical theatre (pm)
Sunday – Swimming

Lack of sleep, social life, travel, money plus nights spent lying in back breaking positions when they’ve got a hacking cough, happy feet on permanent loop, arguing that night is day… Wouldn’t change it for the world.

“ransos – Member
Tomorrow we have swimming lessons at 8am, followed by Junior Parkrun at 9. It’s a brutal start to a Sunday.”

Junior Parkrun here too but I don’t mind because there’s a great cafe in the park for coffee and cake afterwards. And some of the mummies are yummy too.

It was worth it – suck it up

I’ve always maintained its the hardest job in the world but also the most rewarding.

Good god some of you have a busy diary! Ferrying #1 to brownies, swimming and football is enough for me. Hoping she gives up the latter as she doesn’t even want to look at a football between training sessions.

Monday 5.30 swim
Monday 7pm swim
Tuesday 6pm swim
Tuesday Army cadets
Wed nothing at all
Thursday 5.30 swim
Thursday Horse, Army Cadets, Swim
Friday Horse
Sat Horse
Sunday Swim and archery

some of you are amateurs 😀 😀

I’d rather have active children than balls of gaming lard!

Only 2 kids, they are lovely (most of the time) and I get to ride when he swims I even fit in work 😀

My daughter is learning to play the flute.
I’m suffering for her art.

Amateur! I will raise you a daughter learning to play the viola. I have brought a hammer!

The smartest move we made was buying a digital piano, practise all day long kiddo… but keep the headphones on for now OK?

Sunday 2am: home from works Xmas party.

Sunday 9am: chest deep in sea catching kids from big waves at surf life saving. Thought it would help. It didn’t.

My daughter is learning to play the flute.

I’m suffering for her art.

Flute is nice even when badly played. Now on the other hand, a violin ….

Fri night was football training, better
Sat the wife spent all day at flute concerts
Sun, back to me, football match then a long drive to Ascot and back for goalie training and more standing rounding the cold.

Everything, lazy bastards

Recover the situation when my 5yo drops his fidget spinner down the pan while having a dump 😕

It’s a tricky one isn’t it. The size of your child’s diary has become a middle class badge of honour.

Meanwhile, dreary eyed child zombies commute from place to place, never having to think for themselves or heaven forbid, face up to the reality that sometimes life is boring 😉

Nah, of course exposing them to lots of opportunities is a good thing but I wonder about the motives sometimes.

We have one set of friends whose son is coached, trained, mentored and tutored to within an inch of his life. Literally 20hrs a week on top of school for cricket, English and maths.
He’s a nice enough kid but by Christ is he ever dull! He has no personality, no opinions of his own and no drive beyond the structure set out by his parents.

He’s going to go away to Uni and go f***ing bat sh1t crazy I reckon 😆

More evidence of how shit swimming is as a sport.

My kids do none of this. Except swimming lessons, but that’s so they don’t drown. I dunno how we’d get them to all those clubs tbh.

Just be there for them and let them be kids. If they show an interest in something then I’ll support whatever it is.

Thankfully my son is a diver, not a swimmer, so I quite like watching him practice. It’s great watching him rip a dive off the 10m platform. I pick him up four evenings a week, Fri and Sat he generally gets the bus both ways as we live reasonably close to the pool. He doesn’t do any other activities, he was hoping to do Duke Of Edinburgh but the meetings for that are the same time as his training. His training has made him very self sufficient and organised, as much as a 14 year old boy can be and the whole experience has brought him out of himself and been the making off him. Even if it doesn’t ultimately go anywhere it’s given him lots of great life experiences and he’s a good kid who’s a pleasure to be around.