Finding the Balance Between Structured and Unstructured Weekends

Sometimes weekend activities feel a bit too structured. You know, you don't have time to just do whatever you want. You can't just chill because there's always an agenda: we're doing this, then we're doing that. It's very difficult to strike a balance.

There are times when we deliberately have unstructured weekends because we've tried both ways—structured and unstructured. I always get my little lion coming back to me with questions, like, 'What should I do?' or 'I don't know what to do.' And it's not just a weekend thing; it's also during school holidays.

You give him suggestions like, 'Oh, you can do this activity or that activity. You have all these toys and books, why not go for it?' He says, 'No, I don't want to do that.' We've even Googled what to do when your child is bored, and Google recommended creating a list of activities. So, we drew up a list together, and still, he didn't want to do any of it. I thought, 'Well, find something yourself to do then. I've given you suggestions, and you say no, and when I ask you what you want to do, you say, I don't know.'

An interesting point that AI mentioned is sometimes the child just wants a connection with you. I never thought about it that way. They don't know how to ask for that connection. In a way, he has said before, 'I don't know what to do myself; I want to do something with you.' But it can be difficult, especially if you're a working parent. When the weekend comes, sometimes you just want to be left alone to rest, or you just want to watch your own thing on Netflix.

Aside from giving suggestions on what activities to do and having a list, another thing is to do something that connects with them. Maybe the fourth thing to try is to let them be bored. Eventually, they'll find something to do on their own when they're bored.