What is your day like stay at home parent

[bumbershoot1]

I have two under 3 and my day consists of breakfast, clean, lunch, clean, dinner, clean.
Some laundry in between and every day errands and playing with the kids, my husband works full time It's extremely boring.

I've got a nearly 3yo and nearly 1yo. We get up at 7am, breakfast and then either a 1.5-2 hour dog walk or we go to a toddler stay and play group or the beach/park for a play date. Come back, they both have a nap. Food when they wake and then we either dog walk or go to the park in the afternoon. Play at home 5-6pm ish at which point my partner gets back. Then bathtime at 6.40pm.

I'm not bored but I am very tired.

I have a 2.5 month old and an almost 6 month old. I'm not a SAHP but I'm still on maternity leave with my youngest. When I'm working I work part-time 10 days a month (including some weekends) and have my children full time on my days off.

We have toddler groups to go to every day except Mondays and we usually go to the playground or to a coffee shop (always fun with a toddler and a baby) with one of the other mums afterwards.

Usually rushing home then for my toddlers nap, he sleeps for 2 hours at 1:30pm and has to be in his cot for it, he can't sleep on the go like my baby can. His nap is my lazy time when I just chill on the couch and have cuddles/breastfeeds/contact nap with my baby while watching TV (currently watching Desperate Housewives for the first time).

My husband is normally home around 4/4:30pm so by the time I get my toddler out of bed he's almost home and we do normal family stuff like dinner and hanging out in the garden. My husband and I clean up together for 20-30 minutes after the kids go to bed, I rarely do any cleaning during the day.

It’s rough fitting the housework in as it feels it never ends doesn’t it?
Being with kids all day can be extremely boring I get it. My sanity was saved by being out as much as I can, if I was out, I wasn’t thinking about what I needed to do round the house and you have the opportunity to talk to other mums also.
I don’t waste money on going out to fancy things, there’s so many free baby and toddler groups around, I just look at my local governments website and there is one everyday I could go too for free, obviously the park, if bad weather like rain - kids love this for some reason as splashing in puddles!
Also, please look up ‘the mum club’ it’s absolutely great, its mum focussed and not kid focussed, it does cost money as there are brunches but you get to meet so many other mums and just chat.
Everybody says it, but it really does go too fast, my daughter is 4 almost and in school this year and it makes me so sad as I really do feel it’s gone by in a flash, I now have a baby and will make sure I savour this as this will be my last baby, I am finding the newborn stage so boring and can’t wait for him to be on the move and I can go out with him and do things, I shouldn’t wish it away but this really is the most boring stage lol.
I think if you change your perspective a little, it may get a little less boring! 😊

When my two were little and I was at home with them, I lived in a very small flat. The two advantages of this were it didn’t take long to clean, and it incentivised us to go out!
we didn’t do a lot of organised stuff because of ££, but literally anything is better than housework!

I used to love going for a walk around the block when mine were that age - I would push the little one in the pram and my toddler would push her dolly in her own little buggy.

Our block wasn't very exciting (just lots of terraced houses) but we loved picking weeds and looking for bugs in the cracks of the walls.

I sometimes take a detour to this part of town and it makes me incredibly nostalgic.

On rainy days our favourite activity was putting on a fashion show (different outfit for each of the 4 seasons), usually combined with the task of sorting out their outgrown clothes.

Plus lots of toddler groups, visits to the woods, paddling pools in the summer...

My house kept itself tidy by virtue of the fact that it was tiny and we tried to get out and about as much as possible.

I only have 1

Breakfast
Walk dog
Finish getting us both ready
Snacks and bag ready
Activity of some kind (paid toddler group/stay&play/play date)
Home for lunch
Clean up
Walk dog
Hoover
Other housework/make bread/bake
Bathe DD
Start making dinner
Eat
Clean up
Get DD ready for bed
Bedtime
Sit in front of TV for 2 hours then bed

We try to get out every morning, to a group, the shop, soft play, park, meet a friend etc. We come home for lunch or occasionally eat out/picnic. Then it's nap time for youngest whilst I put the tv on for my eldest for a bit of quiet time or we spend some time together (depends on current levels of exhaustion/sleep). Then they both have a snack when youngest up and tend to play at home or one day a week we have an afternoon play date or walk to playground. But mostly at home. Then I cook food for 5pm when my husband finishes work. Then me and my husband share bath time/bedtime routine and getting the girls to bed. My eldest does 3 days at preschool so on those days it's just me and the 1 year old and add in 2 x daily school runs.

Cleaning takes a back burner until the evenings or weekend but I try my best to clean up after mealtimes during the day.

Who wouldn't want to be a SAHP if all kids are in school?!! That must be total bliss!! Personally wouldn't do that as not fair on DH, but each to their own...

3 year old and 3 month old here:

7.30ish - Wake up and jump in the shower before kids wake up.

8 - Toddler has breakfast baby has bottle

9.30/10 - 11. 30 Toddler and baby group, we do 3 a week if they're not on then we do park, or play in the garden.

12pm - lunch, bottle for baby

1pm - clean up, put a wash on

2pm - We go out if we've been stuck in all day, usually the park or just a walk to the shops or visit a friend.

4pm - play with toys another bottle for baby.

5/6pm - tea. DH does cooking and washing up whilst i entertain little ones.

7pm - bath and bed.

8pm - tidy up with DH, hoovering, bottles etc.

11pmish - i head up to bed with baby who still has 1 night feed around 4/5am but then falls back asleep.

I also have a teenager who is very helpful at entertaining the toddler incase of a poonami 😂

We also do trips out at the weekend and i take my teenager out for tea /bowling once a fortnight for a break from the little ones!

It's boring as fuck sometimes but i look at my 15 year old now and i miss our days together when she was little ❤️

my DS is only 16 weeks so maybe as time goes on the novelty will wear off…but I do make a conscious effort for my days not to be boring. For example if laundry needs doing but I fancy going out instead I will always pick going out. I know at some point in the week it will get done. I tend to have a couple of days where I blast the house work ( I have a 5 bed house over 3 floors..needless to say I don’t live in London 😂) so I can have the others day free to go to groups or meet friends/family. I had a high stress job beforehand and I do miss work but I like being at home more. I think it is what you make it.

Depends on your financial position and how you viewed your job/career. My DH runs his own business which brings in far more than I ever did in my line of work, despite having a high stress, professional job. My wage made very little difference to our quality of life. I’m currently a SAHM after deciding to not return after maternity leave but I will return to work part time when my DS is in school just because I actually enjoy working!

Get up when baby does - around 8ish/9ish. Have coffee, make morningfeast (oats, nuts, seeds, berries, honey) play with baby, put sourdough in the oven. Do a bit of laundry, empty dishwasher, go to playgroup.

Lunch, hobbies and more play with baby. Could be going out somewhere like park or play cafe or garden or forest.

Pop out, maybe for coffee, or do hobbies and play with baby.

Make tea, do a bit of tidying (bare minimum)

Play with baby, put her to bed.

Fun times with husband, read together, play, chat, plan fun things together, maybe sexytimes, maybe just non sexual intimacy.

Every day I try to make fun and include baby in tasks and hobbies.

I'll continue to be a sahm once both dcs are in school. I'm looking forward to resuming my hobbies and sports, and getting bigger jobs done on the house. I'm fortunate to have a passive income stream so not financially dependent on DH.

I had a thing to get out to pretty much every day. Library rhyme time, mums' group, a class, park/ducks/playtrail or PAYG soft play session at our local leisure centre. We rarely had a whole day at home. I need structure and my children do too. Cast a wide net and get out there, it'll make the day go so much faster if time at home is dragging.

I am a big believer that housework expands to fit the time available. The only sensible response to that is to squeeze it down into the smallest possible box by filling your time with more interesting things. And if the housework ends up neglected, inviting people over helps me get back on track!

It's a reason why I'm not a SAHM, I'm on maternity leave and find it boring enough. That also includes baby groups etc because I just don't enjoy them, talking about babies all of the time is boring and that is often the only topic of conversation.

I'm a SAHM to my one year old and really enjoy it but I still completely get what you are saying! It's really important to me to ensure that I keep up with my hobbies and interests because I find it incredibly dull to be around women who want to talk about nothing but their babies/children all day. It is important to retain a sense of who you are as an individual outside of being a Mum.