Twelve things in Greater Manchester this month, and why I will only do two

The Manc has put together its roundup of 12 of the best things happening in Greater Manchester this month (you can read the full list here). It landed at the right moment. The clocks have gone back, the Christmas adverts are already running, and every parent in the country is being asked the same question: what are we actually doing with the kids this month?

My honest answer, most years, is not much. And that is fine.

A list of twelve is not a plan

I like these roundups. I read them properly, usually on a Sunday evening with a cup of tea and half an eye on the ironing. But I have learned the hard way that treating one as a to-do list is how you end up with a knackered family, an empty bank account and a weekend that felt like a second job.

Twelve options is a menu. You pick one starter and one main. You do not order the whole board.

My three questions before I book anything

Before anything goes in the calendar, it has to survive three questions.

1. Can we get there and back without a meltdown? Long drives and late finishes are the enemy of a good day out with young kids. A two hour journey each way kills a Saturday.
2. Can the kids actually do something, or are they just watching? Anything where they are walking round looking at things gets about forty minutes before the complaining starts. Anything where they are building, climbing, racing or eating lasts.
3. What is the real cost? Not the ticket price. Ticket plus parking plus lunch plus the thing they spot in the gift shop on the way out. That number decides whether we go once or whether it becomes a birthday treat.

Book one thing, leave the rest loose

The best family days we have had have almost never been the packed ones. One booked event in the morning, then a wander, a coffee and home before it gets dark. The kids remember the bit where they got to run about. I remember not being stressed about the next timed slot.

So with this month's list, I will sit down with my wife, go through it once, and pick two. One for a weekend, one to hold in reserve for a day off or a rainy half term afternoon. Everything else gets filed under nice to know.

It is the same principle I use when I review golf courses by price per round: the question is never whether somewhere is good, it is whether it is worth what it costs you in money and time. A cheap, close, half day out beats an expensive, far away, full day out more often than anyone admits.

What I would say to another working dad

You have limited annual leave and probably two weekend days if you are lucky. Use them on things that make your children's faces change. Skip the rest without guilt. The list will still be there next November.

Have a read of the original roundup, pick your two, and get them booked before the good slots go. That is the whole strategy.