One thing I hate about where we live is the lack of things to do with kids.

There are almost no SAHM’s in my area and if there are they stay away from the outside world.. when I go to the park if there are other kids there they are with a daycare worker, or another babysitter, grandparent etc… no parents… not unless it is the weekend…

but there is also almost nothing to do here as a family…

I wanted to see if there was a free swim at the local pool (the only pool in the region) and yes, there are… there are 2 hours in the morning for adults only, 2 hours in the late afternoon for adults only, an hour at 8pm for all and then an hour after that for adults only… So the only time you can go swimming with kids is when most kids are going to bed… who goes swimming with kids at 8pm?! I called and talked to the pool director and she said that she tried to do a free swim for kids a few years ago in the daytime but there were only about 4-5 kids that came… but that we could rent out the pool if there was enough people that wanted it (130$ an hour)… I talked to her about it a bit more and she said that she would think about it… we’ll see what she decides..

There is a family centre here… but again… though it is for families and for kids the activities that are planned always have the kids and the parents separated… because they really believe that parents need to do activities without the kids and the kids have to learn how to be in daycare. When you ask if you can stay with your kids you get looked like as if you have three nostrils… don’t get me wrong… there are some activities that you are with your kids… but you are only allowed to have one child with you and you need to put the others in the daycare… not even a nursling is allowed to stay with you if you are with an older child. The activities are also really rigid and planned and they even give you homework if you don’t finish it during the allotted time… It is just so unfriendly and what I have heard from many others is that the kids don’t enjoy it…

There is not much else here besides that… there is stroller group that does a lot of walking but you can only have a child in a stroller, no other kids are welcome.

There are “extra-curricular” activities… but only Xavier would be able to go and really he is just not that interested by them at the moment and honestly… I don’t blame him… he wants to be with his family and do things as a family…

it is sad that this city is so anti-family.