Everyone in the house can f*ck off!

Yep I’m here with you OP. I have a 4 year old and a 12 month old, it’s been a looooooong week. Constant questions, the same thing repeated over and over, my answers are never satisfactory, I’m constantly being talked at while chasing my youngest around to stop him from swallowing things or banging his head (he’s learning to walk). My oldest even talks over me when I speak to the Alexa 🥴

Pissed with rain every day, jollying them all into their puddle suits for the umpteenth time is grinding me down. Endless requests for snacks/drinks/toilet. Over to DP now for week 2, all I can say to him is god speed 😄

The problem is though, doing yoga or going for a run (obviously great healthy responses to stress) weren’t options in OP’s situation. Part of the reason mums do reach for a glass of wine is it is often literally the only option available to them at that given moment! I’m obviously not condoning alcohol as a perpetual crutch, but honestly days like this can make you feel like running round the house with a bucket on your head hitting it with a ladel. When you physically can’t alter the situation, the quick fix of a glass of wine beats yelling at your kids when there’s no one else to relieve you for half an hour to do something more productive.

OP I remember those days so well, I now have teens/tweens and they still drive me to drink!!

Worked my arse off today WFH before starting annual leave, entered the house to find it looking like a bomb had gone off. Cue half hour of me angry cleaning, slamming every door and drawer I could in pure frustration with it only to be met with "are you alright darling" after I had finished!

Now in a mood, and DH is in a mood with me for me being in a mood which is making more even more moody.

Absolute idiot here 👋🏼

My kids are young adults now, but I DEFINITELY experienced those moments and emotions when they were little.

And now I’ve gone and got myself 2 kittens. Through choice. And so it begins again, it’s eerily similar.

I used to take them out in the morning to walk, run themselves ragged. We didn't have any money so I couldn't afford anything nice.

I think I treated them like puppies/dogs. We'd either have sandwiches etc when out or come home for lunch. This did take the edge off their behaviour.

Wet winter days are the devil's invention

Exactly, I find it really creepy.

For me personally, I do yoga or half an hour of dance. I might also have a coffee, if I don't feel like moving about. I honestly wasn't having a go at the OP, I just thought that if she was genuinely in the habit of using alcohol as her go-to to unwind, hitting pause on that my be helpful. She clarified that she normally runs, though, which is another thing you can do (although not in this weather!!)

I was going to suggest this and ask where is your DCs dad in all this?

I find that industry you speak of deeply fucking patronising. 'Gin-o-clock' for mummies, as though that's somehow vastly more funny/hilarious than 20s day drinkers. Whatevs!

Oh I feel your pain, I had three under five ten years ago and it was hard. There were times I thought I'd scream if one of them touched me again... Thankfully now they're mostly all sullen teenagers who don't talk to me. Definitely preferable 😂

Menopause is usually between 45-55, perimenopause can last for several years, so 43 is not exactly an outlier.

I thought it was just me. In my 20s I craved nights out and the company of my best friends, now (43) I just want to lie in a darkened room (whilst surfing vinted).

If you want a bit of peace and quiet my top-tip is to tell your DCs that they only have x amount of words to last their entire life and if they carry on chatting they'll have none left by the time they reach the age of 9 (or whatever age you choose). Worked a treat on my DD when she was being a bit too much at times.

100% genuine question, not attacking, but what to do you do to relieve stress when you have had an epically awful day eg massive fight with someone you love, then washing machine floods, then car gets scratched in car park, then phone gets stolen. When all you want to do is cry/scream, what do you do? Related question-what should OP have done instead of having that tasty glass of wine (bearing in mind she is stuck at home with her kids at this exact moment so pretty restricted physically and probably about ready to walk out of the door and not come back). It’s much more helpful to offer an alternative so we mums are all ears!

I have a picture where one child has foot in my face, the other is licking my cheek and playing with my hair.

It reminds me of this thread. If it weren’t identifying I would post it.

No boundaries, no filter.

All sorts of emotions fly about during our school holidays so I feel you OP.

Mine are 6&9 and comes with it's own challenges, is a great phase for me compared to when they were little though. When I ask them to just play in the playroom for a bit, they do. However, my youngest went on an artistic spree and used every single acrylic paint in the set and created multiple masterpieces across 10 pieces of paper. I have closed the door on the playroom and am taking us out for a welly walk this afternoon 😆

I am so tired of these unhelpful comments for mums who are simply venting. I could go on the MNers without DC , where there are tons of posts about women feeling lonely and disconnected, and say smugly "Well, that's why I had DC" but I don't.

By all means have DC or don't, but kicking a busy mum is not a good look. Those of us who have grown DC know this is a short lived phase and OP's life will improve very shortly. The occasional wine won't hurt. Venting loudly won't hurt.

I remember having 3 under 3

It's a bloody wonder I'm still sane (that may be stretching it a bit)

Sending wine

Right, hate me, but that's one of the reasons why
I don't have any kids.
Also peri at 43? I might be missing something
at 45.

I took a leaf out of Blueys book (or Chilli from Bluey anyway!) where we now have a rule that when I am touched out, overwhelmed, exhausted with constant demands for attention then I tell DC I need 20 mins where no one touches me. Take myself off to have a coffee in the kitchen and they entertain themselves for 20mins. It helps, I felt really really guilty the first time but it let me go back to the kids feeling a lot calmer and more capable of dealing with the relentlessness so now it’s an as and when needed thing and I feel no guilt.

This was me 🤣🫶🏽 Wine definitely is the answer I hid with a bottle of Chardonnay last night and put the dominoes on the table leaving them to fend for themselves dh was present I sprinted upstairs byeeeeee everyone 🤣

Just wanted to reaffirm that wine is absolutely the answer, as there seems to be so confusion.

I treated myself to a shower that included a full hair wash and blow dry. By morning I had porridge in it. 👍🏻

The years go by quickly, one day your future will be peaceful, hang in there.