My daughter just entered grade school, and at the same time she's discovered the neighbor girls are a lot of fun to be around. She has literally played with at least one friend every day this past week. Today she was confused when I told her that her friends are going to church [what's church? She asked... So I got to introduce that to her...] and it's a family day, so they won't be able to play. We went bowling, just me and her but even after that, she was eager to play with her friends again. She ended up riding her bike to her friend's, where her parent explained that her friend can play on Monday, Tues, Wed, et al but not on Sundays.

I know this isn't a big deal and the older she'll get the more she'll understand and enjoy going out (or staying in) with her family. But in the meantime, I'll need to keep her busy on Sundays.


At least she didn't say that she wanted to go to church! :P
And a tad frustrating to realize all her friends on our street are Mormons.

Have as much fun on Sunday as possible, then when your daughter's friends hear about it they'll start asking their parents why your family gets to have fun and they're stuck for three hours of torture.

Yes! Need to find cheap outings, parks and hikes, otherwise it'll add up, lol. Definitely want to stress that it's family day for us too. :)

Your family day will just be a hell of a lot more fun. ;)

We have a Sunday morning ritual of tea and pancakes in our jammies. Costs very little and WAY better than getting up early on a weekend for a 3hr slog thru church.

Love it! I usually make pancakes on either Saturday or Sunday anyway. :)

Yes to Jammie's and pancakes!

I never understood not allowing the kids to play with friends on Sunday.

However, we always let the kids go and play with their friends. I don't understand why people think that's so horrible



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/2015 09:36PM by goodeye.

I'm not sure how many families have this rule. I think it's better to let those kids come to us if they want to play on Sunday. I could also ask my neighbors so I know which houses may say yes if my daughter asks to play.

Oh, I knew TBM's who would let their children play in the back yard on Sundays but not in the front yard.

I don't understand the not playing outside on Sundays, my tbm parents would let us bring friends home from church or go to their house for the afternoon after church all the time, we played like crazy after church. Have some fond memories of getting stuck up in a tree...

I think that kids need to develop the capacity to amuse themselves when needed. It helps to develop their initiative, imagination, and creativity. You might try keeping her stocked with arts and craft supplies. Keep an eye out for local crafts workshops for kids. These are put on by craft stores, libraries, etc.

As an example, my parents always made sure that I had packs of construction paper. I would cut out various shapes and decorate my bedroom door for every month. I also liked to "weave" potholders that came in crafts kits. You could teach your daughter how to fold paper in half and create hearts, trees, flowers, stars, snowflakes, etc.

Make sure that she has plenty of books. Some of these can be books that you read out loud to her before bed every night. Some can be wordless picture stories. Your local librarian can help you with that.

Help her to develop an interest in the natural world. Introduce her to books about animals, leaves, birds, flowers, and rocks. After I taught my kids at school about rocks I would see them picking up rocks and examining them on the playground.

She will require your help at first to develop some interests, but the aim should be to move her to self-sufficiency in that regard.