A parent has asked others to dish the dirt on how they’d spend 24 hours if they had their pre-children lives back for one day only – and the replies were... varied, to say the least.
Taking to Mumsnet, the parent fronted up that she loves her kids – she has a baby and toddler – but while they are “beautiful, funny, joyful and life enhancing,” they are also “exhausting and consume all our time, money, worry and attention”. A fair comment.
“Looking back I can’t believe how much freedom, energy and spare cash (relative) we had before we had kids, but also that we didn’t really realise what we had and make the most of it before having them,” she said.
She mused how she would spend a day without kids in tow. “Would I write a novel, have a day-long bath, learn a new instrument, just spend all day reading in a coffee shop?” she asked.
And then she pitched the question to the masses: what would you do?
There were a few caveats to the post. Firstly, parents couldn’t say they’d do admin or clean the house. She also wanted to stress that she knows having kids is a “huge privilege” and “lots of people would give anything to have them”.
“This discussion isn’t about that ... It’s just a lighthearted chat about how even though kids are wonderful, you still give up a lot when you have them and wouldn’t it be nice to get just a little bit of it back occasionally.”
So, what did parents say? Here are some of the responses:
- “I guess a nice café afternoon.”
- “Have some cocktails in a beer garden, then go [and] play some pool without having to worry about being jumped on at 6am by my little people.”
- “DH [dear husband] and I would go on a really long hike, then come home and relax with a nice meal and a film.”
- “Oooh what a joy that would be! I’d go out for every meal of the day, stay up late drinking and dancing with my DH and have a lie in the next morning.”
- “Just a whole day, dawn till dusk, with no crying would be great.”
- “If I had a free day I would: Lie in, then have a leisurely shower with scented products. Go to a nice café and eat a late breakfast outside, in peace. Then I’d waft off to a museum or art gallery to catch an exhibition. Have a nice café/restaurant lunch in peace. Wander by the river or in a nice park. In peace. Have an acupuncture session. Wander home and eat a light supper not shopped for and cooked by me, then get into my dressing gown and watch a great film or a couple of episodes of a favourite series. In peace.”
- “Spend the day with DH, go to a spa, maybe the baths in Bath, cinema, go to some nice gardens with a good book in the sunshine.”
- “I would have a lie in until 10am, then I would go shopping and try on hundreds of clothes to try and figure out what suits me now and what size I am. Then I’d have a nice dinner and some cocktails.”
- “I would just enjoy silence. And when I was tired of silence I would put on music that I like and not care who else likes it. Thats all I ask for...”
- “Ice skate, drink beer and watch ice hockey.”
- “I would fall peacefully asleep next to a swimming pool, fast flowing river or some other hideous child-danger to make full use of not being responsible for keeping somebody else alive.”
- “If it’s one day, I would wonder around aimlessly and see where it would take me, stop off for lunch somewhere. And then carry on with my walk.”
- “We’d go on a MASSIVE night out, without worrying about being hungover the next day. Spend the next day in bed all day, watching crap TV and then order a huge takeaway in the evening. This is the part of our lives I miss most from before kids.”
- “I would say I’d go for a hike up a mountain and on to a café before a swim and aromatherapy session in a spa. But realistically I’d spend it eating snacks, sleeping and scrolling through my phone.”