I have zero ideas myself because I have older kids and am jaded and have given up BUT I had a badminton set during covid times and while I loved it, the kids lost interest fairly quickly and I let the whole thing rust which I had regrets about after. But this makes me want a new one 😂 clearly I haven’t learned my own lesson.
This sounds like me and our membership at the local JCC with an excellent pool. We became members in January and, uh, didn't use it until this past weekend. But it was a hit! And we can totally get there multiple times a week and the kids can master swimming and nobody will get sunburned or green hair from the chlorine..... right?
Haha you crack me up. We will breeze through summer on a rotation of the pool and pickle ball. Despite never having played we’ll all be good enough to enjoy it. And we won’t mind putting on sunblock and no one will ask for overpriced snack bar food. And I live in VA so let’s do this! TTYL, NRA 👎🏼
Badminton is literally the only sport I am or have ever been good at. I 100% give the credit to my parents, who loved it and always put a net up and set some rackets and birdies out when they had parties when I was a kid, and gave me a kid's set to mess around with while the adults played (with a can of beer in hand, yes). We also had a croquet set we busted out for smaller parties, and that's also fun to play and doesn't require a ton of skill, and can include all ages. Our Magical Thing this summer is a new inflatable paddling pool. Our summers have become noticeably hotter year on year, and we've bought a new pool every summer and managed to get it to last a couple of months. My 4-year-old is dead keen, AND it attracts fox families in the evenings.
Oh I loved playing badminton in our backyard when I was growing up. I loved it so much that for years I’d claim I could have gone to the Olympics for it. I hope all your family badminton dreams come true this summer! I haven’t landed on my Magical Thing That Will Save Us this summer yet but now I want to buy a badminton set...
The tent I just ordered will be for sure saving my summer - it will be a breeze to set up and I’ll magically not hate camping anymore and it will never rain and everyone will sleep peacefully for 10 hours straight in it every time we use it! But my two floral rompers - those might be what ACTUALLY save the summer.... I wore one of them 3 days in a row already. I have HIGH HOPES for the badminton set 🏸❤️
Like usual, I’ll be counting on books and crafts to keep my 7 and 12 year old boys busy enough to stay off the video games (sometimes) when they’re home and I’m working. One thing new this summer: my oldest son is driving. So I’m hoping he can do some one-on-one outings with his younger brothers.
I have bad-badminton memories as a kid. It’s WAY harder than it looks. But it seems like it’d be fun if you could keep the back and forth going for longer than a few seconds. Sporty things I’ve tried with my kids usually don’t go anywhere, but I’ve seen them work for other families. Maybe I’ll keep an eye out for a set at a garage sale.
I also have a 23 year-old daughter. After so many summers with kids, I’ve learned to keep my expectations low from the start. If we get in some loungy moments on the couch with a book and spend some time wandering out and about, I’ll take it!
I am also Team Badminton! Two summers running it is our go-to backyard activity, although yes the kids annoy me when they want to play for points--no, we play to Rally! LOL.
The hardest part for me is finding good birdies that don't break within a week. I've gone through so many. Do you have a rec?
I have totally thought about getting a badminton net. My kids and I were at a resort recently (my first on my own with them post-divorce) and we had so much fun playing. This post made me think I should just get one and hope for the best. I think the endless days of summer require that we think it will be different this time? And the need to get them off their screens is real. I am just about to buy a box with a lock and after their hour of screen time, lock them up. My daughter (who has a phone) maybe could check her text once per hour. I don't know. I feel like I'm losing the battle.
My yard isn't great for badminton, but I'll throw out bocce ball as a great summer activity that is actually fun for everyone in the family and is minimal pick up. And nobody will ever accidentally throw a ball at their sister's foot, surely.
My backyard is probably a smidge too small to play badminton in (and also it is currently under hostile takeover by 4-food weeds), but this year my younger one is old enough to go to tennis camp with her sister (who has been playing tennis and going to this camp for three years), so everyone in the house will be able to go to the city courts and play tennis this summer. Oh except despite having played competitively as a youth, the game is now super dangerous for my bad knee, so I guess my husband will have to take him on his own like he did this past weekend while I napped. Oh the fomo I will have, yes I will definitely.
I clearly need a badminton set. Or croquet set. We are a week into summer vacation and my kids have a camp this week but next week they don’t so I better get on figuring something out. Thanks for the shout out and contribution to that piece!
I have zero ideas myself because I have older kids and am jaded and have given up BUT I had a badminton set during covid times and while I loved it, the kids lost interest fairly quickly and I let the whole thing rust which I had regrets about after. But this makes me want a new one 😂 clearly I haven’t learned my own lesson.
This sounds like me and our membership at the local JCC with an excellent pool. We became members in January and, uh, didn't use it until this past weekend. But it was a hit! And we can totally get there multiple times a week and the kids can master swimming and nobody will get sunburned or green hair from the chlorine..... right?
Haha you crack me up. We will breeze through summer on a rotation of the pool and pickle ball. Despite never having played we’ll all be good enough to enjoy it. And we won’t mind putting on sunblock and no one will ask for overpriced snack bar food. And I live in VA so let’s do this! TTYL, NRA 👎🏼
Badminton is literally the only sport I am or have ever been good at. I 100% give the credit to my parents, who loved it and always put a net up and set some rackets and birdies out when they had parties when I was a kid, and gave me a kid's set to mess around with while the adults played (with a can of beer in hand, yes). We also had a croquet set we busted out for smaller parties, and that's also fun to play and doesn't require a ton of skill, and can include all ages. Our Magical Thing this summer is a new inflatable paddling pool. Our summers have become noticeably hotter year on year, and we've bought a new pool every summer and managed to get it to last a couple of months. My 4-year-old is dead keen, AND it attracts fox families in the evenings.
Can we back up to your high school had a badminton team?
Loved loved loved all of this. Big “it puts the lotion on its body” energy for “we will put the set away before it rains.”
Oh I loved playing badminton in our backyard when I was growing up. I loved it so much that for years I’d claim I could have gone to the Olympics for it. I hope all your family badminton dreams come true this summer! I haven’t landed on my Magical Thing That Will Save Us this summer yet but now I want to buy a badminton set...
The tent I just ordered will be for sure saving my summer - it will be a breeze to set up and I’ll magically not hate camping anymore and it will never rain and everyone will sleep peacefully for 10 hours straight in it every time we use it! But my two floral rompers - those might be what ACTUALLY save the summer.... I wore one of them 3 days in a row already. I have HIGH HOPES for the badminton set 🏸❤️
Like usual, I’ll be counting on books and crafts to keep my 7 and 12 year old boys busy enough to stay off the video games (sometimes) when they’re home and I’m working. One thing new this summer: my oldest son is driving. So I’m hoping he can do some one-on-one outings with his younger brothers.
I have bad-badminton memories as a kid. It’s WAY harder than it looks. But it seems like it’d be fun if you could keep the back and forth going for longer than a few seconds. Sporty things I’ve tried with my kids usually don’t go anywhere, but I’ve seen them work for other families. Maybe I’ll keep an eye out for a set at a garage sale.
I also have a 23 year-old daughter. After so many summers with kids, I’ve learned to keep my expectations low from the start. If we get in some loungy moments on the couch with a book and spend some time wandering out and about, I’ll take it!
I am also Team Badminton! Two summers running it is our go-to backyard activity, although yes the kids annoy me when they want to play for points--no, we play to Rally! LOL.
The hardest part for me is finding good birdies that don't break within a week. I've gone through so many. Do you have a rec?
Can I come over?? (Also thanks for the shout out!)
I have totally thought about getting a badminton net. My kids and I were at a resort recently (my first on my own with them post-divorce) and we had so much fun playing. This post made me think I should just get one and hope for the best. I think the endless days of summer require that we think it will be different this time? And the need to get them off their screens is real. I am just about to buy a box with a lock and after their hour of screen time, lock them up. My daughter (who has a phone) maybe could check her text once per hour. I don't know. I feel like I'm losing the battle.
My yard isn't great for badminton, but I'll throw out bocce ball as a great summer activity that is actually fun for everyone in the family and is minimal pick up. And nobody will ever accidentally throw a ball at their sister's foot, surely.
My backyard is probably a smidge too small to play badminton in (and also it is currently under hostile takeover by 4-food weeds), but this year my younger one is old enough to go to tennis camp with her sister (who has been playing tennis and going to this camp for three years), so everyone in the house will be able to go to the city courts and play tennis this summer. Oh except despite having played competitively as a youth, the game is now super dangerous for my bad knee, so I guess my husband will have to take him on his own like he did this past weekend while I napped. Oh the fomo I will have, yes I will definitely.
I clearly need a badminton set. Or croquet set. We are a week into summer vacation and my kids have a camp this week but next week they don’t so I better get on figuring something out. Thanks for the shout out and contribution to that piece!
LOL! We have a European vacation planned that I've pinned all the past 3 year's worth of hopes and dreams on. So. No biggie. Gonna be totally chill.