What does sunday cost you.

amother

Papaya

Sun, Dec 11 2016, 1:23 pm

im home myself with three kids the oldest is 3.5 from 9-6 on sunday. I live in brooklyn with no family or car. I usually end up going to amazing savings and buying some craft or new toy to keep kids entertained for a bit. today I spent twenty bucks on a playdough set and my 3.5 is sitting for the past hour playing with it. what does a typical sunday cost you?

pizza4

Sun, Dec 11 2016, 1:44 pm

Usually not much... but I'm stocked with things like playdough and stickers, markers, dot arts etc. Today we baked cookies in chanuka shapes and played with foam clay.
Usually the kids will also have a friend over or go to a friend's house for an hour to break up the day.
So it cost me nothing besides the ingredients.

amother

Khaki

Sun, Dec 11 2016, 1:55 pm

pizza4 wrote:

For one Sunday? That sounds like a lot! Even per month that sounds like a lot.

Tell me about it. Up to $15/hr from around 9am till about midnight some weeks. Other weeks we get off cheaper. Like today will only be $90.

pizza4

Sun, Dec 11 2016, 2:02 pm

amother wrote:

Tell me about it. Up to $15/hr from around 9am till about midnight some weeks. Other weeks we get off cheaper. Like today will only be $90.

Wow. Are there sunday clubs/ funschool where you live? Sometimes if you pay in advance you can get great deals. 15$/hour for one child is extreme. I mean, if you'd be living near me, I'd have your child over for a few hours for free...

MamaBear

Sun, Dec 11 2016, 2:16 pm

amother wrote:

Wow, at that age my kids' entertainment was generally free, especially if it was just a once a week thing...they still play with toys, coloring pages, enjoy mommy story time, play games like I Spy around the neighborhood etc Wait til they get older - then they cost much more to entertain!

amother

Khaki

Sun, Dec 11 2016, 2:23 pm

pizza4 wrote:

The problem would be getting child to and from. We aren't working from home during that time so can't easily transport.

thunderstorm

Sun, Dec 11 2016, 2:30 pm

Nothing. My kids are all in school on Sunday a full day. I have all boys.😀
But I did have them home when they were OP's kids age and we would bake cookies together or cupcakes and the kids would decorate them. I also had them do fingerpainting and play dough. But I never spent $ weekly on it. I would stock up on play dough when I found them on sale and didn't open them all at once. I also always had a stock of finger paint and finger paint paper etc.
I have a collection of toys that go with play dough and I often had a friend over so that my kid has who to play with.
Also, I found that my kids were happy coloring while listening to a children's CD. I did not have to be busy with them all day. They were pretty content playing on their own. I always knew by letting them decorate cookies on their own or finger painting would cause a mess, I let it happen. It's ok to let the kids do things themselves.

Sun, Dec 11 2016, 2:41 pm

If we go someplace with an admission fee, then Sunday (or any non-school day) may be more expensive than usual, but that's hardly required and certainly not a weekly routine. Library is free. Parks are free. Play-dough is reusable until it dries out or gets yucky. Most home crafts and activities are inexpensive. Once my child was a little older there were various classes and extra-curricular activities that were more expensive, but general hanging-around-on-a-Sunday isn't a major budget item for me. All families are different, though.

yksraya

Sun, Dec 11 2016, 3:03 pm

My boys all go to cheder. That leaves only dd, 6th grade. She will be having school half day on sundays. She joined a baking course. That's $200 for 4 wks, abt 3 hrs a wk. But she likes to bake and the lessons are really proffesional so worth it.
When she was little I made sure she has enough arts and crafts and toys to entertain herself. When she got older she started baking, at first togather with me, and later on on her own.

amother

Slategray

Sun, Dec 11 2016, 3:03 pm

amother wrote:

wow! I have 3 and the oldest is also 3.5. On sundays we have lots of fun cleaning and doing laundry together. They LOVE it! We sort laundry, dust furniture, etc. We also ride bikes, listen to music, and dance together. Once in a while we will go to a park or the library. Sunday is our favorite day!

amother

Pearl

Sun, Dec 11 2016, 3:16 pm

yksraya wrote:

Is the class in boro park? I'd love more information.

boysrus

Sun, Dec 11 2016, 3:42 pm

I have to say that my Sundays dont really cost me anything. Maybe at most , the cost of 5 bags of chips, or one huge slurpee in the summer. - the cost of taking the kids shopping with me!
I believe that all week long our children are in school, constantly busy doing stuff, and Sundays if they are home (some of my boys are in school until 12) are for RELAXING. Chilling, just being, just playing. I think it is so important for kids to learn how to self-entertain. My kids aged 2 through mid-teens know how to sit and relax, read a book, play a game with a sibling.
the younger ones love to sit around and read books with me, or chat to me, bake with me, go to the grocery store, help to cook suppers and make up the lunches for the week.
In good weather we might go to the playground , or a park a bit further field to hike a nature trail.
I am a firm believer that if you teach your kids to do expensive busy things, that's all they will ever want to do. Teach them how to relax, just breathe and be happy, and you are setting them up for happiness and being satisfied with less , for life.
Those mothers who say they spend so much entertaining their kids on sundays, maybe try to do things that dont cost. you might be surprised to see how much they enjoy just staying home with you.

MagentaYenta

Sun, Dec 11 2016, 4:07 pm

boysrus wrote:

....
I am a firm believer that if you teach your kids to do expensive busy things, that's all they will ever want to do. Teach them how to relax, just breathe and be happy, and you are setting them up for happiness and being satisfied with less , for life.
Those mothers who say they spend so much entertaining their kids on sundays, maybe try to do things that dont cost. you might be surprised to see how much they enjoy just staying home with you.

That's just what I was thinking when I read this thread. Older kids can just chill doing what they want to decompress and destress from a week of school. Littles can get involved with imaginative play, dress up, putting on 'shows', blanket forts just to name a few. Imaginative play helps their minds work, they can experience decision making, become more creative and develop more social skills. Imaginative play is a vital part of child development.

amother

Silver

Sun, Dec 11 2016, 4:28 pm

I agree with previous posters that it really doesn't have to cost so much when your kids are so little. My kids might enjoy the fancy museum but they also enjoy playing a game of chess, going on the swings...