Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Do you miss the days when your DC were preschoolers?

27 replies

JudgeRulesNutterButter · 16/09/2018 21:40

I am struggling with entertaining DS(2.5) and myself. He does three mornings at nursery but the days are loooooong until we pick up DD from school/activities.

Does anyone actually miss these times? I feel bad for being miserable. I find DS adorable but I am struggling with the amount of childcare I’m doing, I guess.

OP posts:

mikado1 · 16/09/2018 21:44

I would let him play by himself while I'm doing bits and pieces around the house, then a walk/scoot/outing of some sort. Lunch, nap, collect older child. It can be groundhog day bit yu know you'll miss it!

Original poster

JudgeRulesNutterButter · 16/09/2018 21:47

Ahhh, I missed the crucial info: he doesn’t nap. Don’t I wish he would. If he sleeps more than 10 min then it wrecks his bedtime.

I should have mentioned that

OP posts:

IfIWasABirdIdFlyIn2ACeilingFan · 16/09/2018 21:50

I really do. I didn’t appreciate them enough when I was in the midst of it but I look back now mine are much older and wish I’d just been in the moment with them a lot more.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Childcare & nursery Families

BastardGoDarkly · 16/09/2018 21:52

Nope. It's intense, it'll pass x

captainproton · 16/09/2018 21:52

I feel like this too, I work whilst my eldest are at school. But when I collect them all on the school run, it’s very hard to find time to do homework with the kids. They are only yr 1 & 2 so need lots of help reading etc. But it’s hard trying to keep my youngest occupied. She wants to do everything, grab their books etc. She is not at the stage of understanding you had mummy for 10 minutes now it’s their turn, or sit at do some drawing with us whilst they do homework. I love her, but this stage is hell. I will not miss it at all!

Hoozz · 16/09/2018 21:55

Mine are grown up now and looking back on those days is poingnant, I loved it. If I'm honest though it was hard work and ages 5 to 10 were the best.
11 to 20 have been pretty good too

CremantDeLoireSocialist · 16/09/2018 21:55

Now that mine are bigger I do miss those days. But at the time it was hard work!

There is no easy answer, but i think you have to try and make the best of the stage you are in. Little ones force you to live in the moment and that's actually quite good for you.

madeyemoodysmum · 16/09/2018 21:56

God no!!

Pinotwoman82 · 16/09/2018 21:57

Sorry I don’t miss it at all, mine are 11,8 and 6 now and it’s so much easier. It’s still hard as every age comes it’s problems but god it was hard for a few years xx

IfIWasABirdIdFlyIn2ACeilingFan · 16/09/2018 21:58

But it’s hard trying to keep my youngest occupied. She wants to do everything, grab their books etc. She is not at the stage of understanding you had mummy for 10 minutes now it’s their turn, or sit at do some drawing with us whilst they do homework.

captain would she sit with them and do her own “homework” if you have her some?

RoseMartha · 16/09/2018 21:58

Sometimes I miss this yes.

SinkGirl · 16/09/2018 21:58

But he’s at nursery three mornings a week! I have my twins 24/7 (quite literally), just turned 2 and no nursery yet (they’re all insisting on at least 2 sessions a week and I can’t afford it). The days definitely are long and sometimes really hard going - one has significant developmental delays and other issues, and neither can talk. I’m trying to get out to more groups but it is hard.

SinkGirl · 16/09/2018 21:58

And to be honest, the thought of them being gone for two mornings a week is way too much for me!

QueenOfMyWorld · 16/09/2018 21:59

You'll be entitled to 16 nursery hours a week from when he's 3.My ds did 2 full and 1 half day a week it was a lot easier then

Gammeldragz · 16/09/2018 22:00

Hahahaha... No. No I do not. I appreciated my children much more once they developes the ability to follow instructions and fetch their own drinks!

widgetbeana · 16/09/2018 22:04

It is the same as any stage, it is lovely in many ways but the unending relentlessness of it makes seeing the lovely bits hard.

Strippervicar · 16/09/2018 22:05

Between 15 months and 3 were hardest here. ASC and language delay meant she had lots of frustration and anger. We paid for 6 hrs a week of preschool when she hit two, because she was such hard work. I could barely stack the dishwasher because she was so needy.

It gets easier, she's 3.5 and does 15 hrs preschool a week, I can have a two way conversation with her (just!), we do things together, she can play for 10 mins while I do a job. I will miss my little buddy next september.

I relish teaching her phonics and numeracy, doing colouring and chalking outside and playing in the garden. I sound sickky but I am grateful for the best summer I have ever had with her.

You'll get there OP. You might find a different stage more fun.

Stuckforthefourthtime · 16/09/2018 22:15

I keep having more, possibly because I do miss it a bit once they start school, there is so much less flexibility.
Depending where you live, can you do some whole day adventures on the full days? I find pottering around hard, and my DCs always squabble at home, so on full days I prefer to pack a lunch and try to make a day of it at a national trust property or walk somewhere, or a free museum, visiting a family member etc. By the time we get home post lunch or for school pickup they've had more of your attention and are tired enough to let up a bit and maybe do some independent play (also I feel like enough of a good parent to let them watch an episode or two of something while I spend time with older DCs, which helps too).
At this age I have found imaginative play together often a bit repetitive and dull, but doing real life activities can work well. I meal plan and choose meals they can help to prepare (eg slicing courgettes for Bolognese using a bread knife, or stirring muffin mix), or he'll 'help' with some dusting, or clean a table with vinegar spray and a rag while I give the living area a once over. Also playdates, they give you a chance to chat too,even if just for a few mins at a time while dashing around the playground!

Mrsfrumble · 16/09/2018 22:18

No, if I'm honest, I don't. Mine are 7 and 5 now, and I feel as if I have the best of both worlds. They are still little enough to be cute, think I'm the bees knees and want to be with me and cuddle all the time, but they're old enough to hold interesting conversations with and be able to entertain themselves for reasonable periods of time.

I do feel guilty that I wasn't patient enough to fully enjoy their toddler years. My neighbour has a 2 year old and she seems to adore every moment in his company in a way that I couldn't with mine.

captainproton · 16/09/2018 22:41

Ifiwasabird yes I have tried this and sometimes it works, but mostly she wants to look at what they are doing, grab a reading book, grab the letters or numbers games I make to help my kids with spelling and maths. She demands all attention all the time, in the lovely way preschoolers do. It’s not her fault, it’s her age and stage of development. But I certainly won’t miss it!

MadMaryBoddington · 16/09/2018 22:41

No, not at all. I prefer them now they are at school and doing interesting things, and we can have interesting conversations (but not the ones about Pokemon). I even get brought the occasional cuppa by 8yo dd - I wouldn’t swap that for toddler tantrums and potty training for a second!

IfIWasABirdIdFlyIn2ACeilingFan · 16/09/2018 22:48

captain they’re little demons sometimes! Cute demons.

Tallula123 · 16/09/2018 23:01

I miss those days, but I know fine they were hard work too.
I wish I’d had more structure then, been outside with them more. The days that were most fun were the days spent with adults (mums) I liked, and children that got on with my children.
It honestly does pass so quickly, I can’t really remember the stage you are at. Just wish I was back at it. Xx

Original poster

JudgeRulesNutterButter · 16/09/2018 23:46

Thank you all. I feel really guilty that I’m not enjoying it more but this does help me see that actually it’s not just me!!!

I need to play to my strengths - days when we go out together are good, he loves a bus ride to anywhere. I need to summon up the energy for more excursions.

Captain I save screen time for the homework moments. DS sits and watches television by himself while I read etc with DD who’s just started year 1. I try and pick a program she doesn’t like so that she doesn’t feel she’s missing out on tv time!

Stuckforthefourthtime you keep having more what? Children?! That would def take my mind off the current problems I think we’ll call that plan Z B.

OP posts:

Thistles24 · 17/09/2018 00:10

Yes, I really do. 2 of mine are in upper primary now, and yes, there were long, hard and boring days but there were also the days that passed too quickly, times we went for long slow walks and afternoons spent at the park before our lives were dictated by the school bell and football/track/swimming training. At the beginning of the year I was thinking how I’d give anything to spend another day with each of mine at all the younger stages- hear their funny wee observations and feel their chubby hand in mine... I’d appreciate it so much more! It’s made me much more aware of how quickly time passes with DS3.

Flip

1 2