Ria Yulianti sat down on the carpet next to a baby stroller, busily preparing her 21-month-old baby for a dancing competition in a shopping mall in West Jakarta.

She brushed her daughter'€™s hair, put on a cute hairpin and helped her put on socks and shoes that matched with the red ruffle dress. Sweat was dripping on Ria'€™s face, but after a few minutes, she looked at her baby with satisfaction.

'€œShe'€™s joining three contests today. I love involving my kids in competitions. This is kind of my way of relaxing on the weekends,'€ she told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

Ria said that as a working mother, she spent five days a week at her office, so she tried to make amends for the time that she could not share with her kids by taking them out. The family day out was not cheap, with her and her husband usually spending at least Rp 500,000 (US$51.5) on fuel and meals every trip.

'€œI usually follow wherever my eldest son wants us to go on weekends. He is already 10 years old, so he knows what he wants. Usually, he chooses recreation sites or shopping malls,'€ she said.

A resident of Kembangan district in West Jakarta, Ria said there were times when she begged her son to spend family time at home because she was tired. However, it was not easy to do so as her son would sulk.

Ria is not alone. Tatang Haryono, a resident of Kedoya district, said he only had around four hours to play with his child on working days. The mechanic said he brought his family to visit shopping malls that held child-related events, or just stayed at home.

'€œAfter we had a baby, we became interested in only visiting places that had activities for kids,'€ he said, adding that he usually spent Rp 1.5 million a month going to shopping malls.

Tatang was a participant in a diapers competition for fathers and babies during a family event called Family'€™s Fine Day at Ciputra Mall in Grogol, West Jakarta. The event, held from April 24 to May 5, featured various competitions for
babies and parenting seminars.

Another participant, Agung Sukarno, 33, said he always took his family out every weekend to relieve the boredom at home.

'€œMy wife and I use the Internet to work at home, so we usually go to the swimming pool or malls or use bikes on weekends,'€ said the resident of Kebon Jeruk in West Jakarta.

With limited decent public space near housing areas, many families in the capital are known for heading to shopping malls or recreation sites on weekends.

This causes traffic jams in certain locations at weekends.

On Saturday, the Twitter account of the city police'€™s Traffic Management Center (TMC), @TMCPoldaMetro, reported heavy traffic in several spots, including from Jelambar to Grogol in West Jakarta, from Simprug to Pondok Indah in South Jakarta, near Pejaten Village shopping mall and in Cililitan, East Jakarta.

Frica Saragih, a mother of a two-year-old, said she barely found decent parks around her house in Depok, West Java, except a field occasionally used for soccer and a hill in the University of Indonesia compound.

'€œI think kids need more public playgrounds. Jakarta still lacks these facilities,'€ she said.

A group of residents fed up with going to malls are trying to create activities that reject the consumer lifestyle. Set up in 2009, the group '€” Wiken Tanpa Mal (Weekends Without Malls) '€” has been organizing various events in parks, museums and zoos.

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