I think I hate being a Mum :-(

Small kids are simultaneously really boring and occupy your every second. It’s awful, I really didn’t enjoy 0-5 either.

Definitely not OP
I felt excruciating lonely and frustrated when my son was little.
I've learnt to forgive myself but it is such a common experience

This absolutely this! I was going to say it but they've already said it!

It’s ok not to love every phase.
It won’t be like this forever

(or at least that’s what I tell myself and fwiw I think it’s true)

Tbh, it is pretty shit all round. I dont know who romanticises motherhood. I probably wouldn't have had any had i known how shit the majority of it is. Easier and better now they're older but you worry about everything and everyone for ever. I would probably rather moved to a Thai hut, surfed, eat chicken, drank nice beer, done yoga and meditation and worked in an animal shelter.

I loved the mayhem of little kids when mine were small, but I was really young having them and think that made a difference. I don’t think I’d love it quite as much now!

they’ll soon grow OP, the days are long but the years are short. I know it seems corny but it’s true.

Sounds v similar to my pre-school years routine 🙂

I feel this every day! You are not alone! I feel I'm not cut out for it half the time!

Go easy on yourself 💐💐💞💞

I’ve been mothering small children for 15 years now. I have 5. All about 3 years apart. It’s okay to feel like this. I’ve always hated small world play and the park is my ultimate hell. All my children are doing well, are smart and loving.
Stop beating yourself up. Just because you find parenting mind numbing it doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong or failing! You just need to find things you can do together that engage you both. You’re doing your best, cut yourself some slack.

It does get better. You are right in the thick of it with children aged 2 and 5 - the 'critical point' as Teacher Tom would say.

Just stick out the next 3 years and things will start to get more chill.

I hear you OP, I have a 2yo at the screaming/tantrum/all day whingeing stage

between that and FT work where I also look after a team as well as having my own job, I’m absolutely exhausted and done with people 🤣

Having said that, DC is a joy, it’s just the stage she is at atm so I have made peace with the chaos, plus we spend most of the weekends out of the house, which really does help. Like PP, I also take the odd day of annual leave so I can spend some time alone and recover!

Get a 6th former in!
I had a lovely 17 year old come in on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They arrived as I got in, helped with organising bath time, read. Played with one, while I dealt with the others! Even made me a cup of tea!!
cleared the toys and bath stuff, and was basically extra pair of hands when I needed them most. Even helped with bedtime stories. They were there for an hr and a half each time, invaluable!
The kids absolutely loved her!

Do you know what helped me with this feeling? I swapped my day off work to a Wednesday. Game changer. I find three days in a row with the kids too much (even with DH around at weekends!).

Could you try that?

Getting out is the best way goes so much quicker and is easier

I think what I hated was that it was relentless, but boring.
Work was relentless, but full on and interesting. Then I'd get home and or would be a different full on.
Then weekends would start at 6 a.m. and off we'd go again.
It was worse in the holidays, because there would be no other adult. I used mn a lot. Too much. I could also have banal conversations with the dc, while my mind was elsewhere.

Hi OP. HARD relate to what you’re saying. I often start drafting a MN post in my head along the lines of ‘is it normal to cry every day/ can’t cope / how do I do this’ but I usually end up talking myself down and remembering that it will pass 😄. Mine are 1 and 3 and honestly it is mind bogglingly relentless, I have NOTHING left at the end of EVERY day, and it’s all just normal toddler stuff, and I also have a very present DH like you.

I only work two days a week and it feels like a holiday when those days come around. I had to wear earplugs during bath and bedtime as I was so overstimulated by the shouting 😂

I don’t know what to say except I hear you.

People giving you advice are so annoying. As if you're some kind of bone idle idiot who doesn't get out with your kids and play with them. Come on. These years are bloody hard and it's exhausting. I find my stressful job easier too. I get so over stimulated at home. Solidarity

Oof, 5 and 2 is a tough stage. Be kind to yourself, OP. It will get easier.

Mine are older now and they're terrific company most of the time. They entertain themselves for significant periods of time, days out and going out to eat with them are a pleasure rather than a tantrum filled stress-fest, they help with jobs around the house. My eldest has just brought me a cup of tea without me even asking. They have their moments, don't get me wrong, but life is infinitely easier and more fun than the relentless toddler stage. Hang in there.

It’s a crap age, I would rather have 10 newborns than a toddler 😂. Little psychopaths

This! When mine were 5 and 2 we spent every morning outside on the playground or softplay. Sometimes met up mum friends, Sometimes just met other mums to chat with. It's nice to be outside and it's so much easier to have them inside once they have been running around burning off some energy.
I also found it useful to start an activity with them: drawing, lego (big ones), playmobil 123, play dooh and when they were all occupied I withdrew to get on with chores.

My children are older now but I did used to get overwhelmed- it’s completely normal to feel like this sometimes.
Every now and then I used a day of annual leave and didn’t tell anyone so that I could just have a day of peace to myself. Did me the world of good.

I did find this stage very tiring - I remember a patch when I was getting home, picking up youngest from nursery, oldest from childminder or after-school club and although both these places were close to home, the round trip from getting back to the nearest tube station to home was somehow about 40 minutes. I spent a few months feeling weirdly furious about this (kept it in in front of the kids, of course) but then somehow it passed and I accepted it.

I have the same age gap (teenagers now) - you only have a few more years of this. You can potentially teach your eldest to get some juice or to spread something on bread now, and that's part of the strain off (the constant drink/snack requests really wore on me at that age).

I did find that getting them out of the house was often less strenuous than being at home somehow. Maybe because they're not making a mess at home!

Oh god this is me all over. I love my kids but I’m an introvert and love my own company. I enjoy order, peace and relaxation - none of which I get now with three primary age kids.

My busy and responsible job is also my haven OP. You’re not alone!

And I 💯feel like this sometimes....

Its hard. Almost every single thing about being a mother is harder than I was warned it would be.

The way i cope is hacks and systems that make it easier for me