to think being a stay at home mother of babies and toddlers is an absolute bloody dodfle.

[StillIRise]

compared to being a full time working (shit shifts) mother of stroppy, hormonal, expensive, complicated teenagers.

I am much more bone achingly knackered now than I was then, after a day of playdough and music group, with an afternoon nap or quite hour in front of a disney dvd.

The days when i could do tea, bath, story and bed by 6.30pm.

Compared to 8 hours on my feet, bit stressy, get in, feed 3 different times, drop off, pick up, nag about homework, worry about dodgy friends, drugs and unprotected sex.

U?

I think not.

Oh and Lord Sweet Jesus adolescents are EXPENSIVE.

Because of their horrible faddy eating habits and/or them being in and out at different times.

Not that i cook. I don't. But it knackers me on DHs behalf.

I seem to recall that nappies and wipes cost £10 a week back in the day - pretty much what they cost now.

Just imagine a teen costing you only £40 a month!

Sleeping through?

DD was 6 before she slept through the night.

Now they are awake till 10. Pottering in and out of the bathroom til 11. Or out partying til midnight keeping me awake until they get home. Worrying about drinking cider and shagging unsuitable doys.

And you think £40 startright shoes are expensive???????

Ha! And Humph!

Baby and toddler stage I found more tiring.

Now they are 7 and 10 more complicated with friendship worries, applying for secondary school, working etc.

I've forgotten the sleep deprivation!!

But s'ok. I am U. A bit. I suppose.

So it gets worse StillIRise!

Jenai but then as they get older, they won't flipping go to bed at 7pm.
My oldest is only 10, but at weekends I've been known to go to bed at the same time as him.

Will need more to survive the teenage years.

My 10 year old went through a phase of insomnia he couldn't sleep until 11pm. When he was a toddler he slept through 7pm to 7am.

I am in the toddler/baby/reception aged child phase, and it doesn't feel like a doddle from where I'm sitting.

I'm a sahm mum of 4, 2 preteens and 2 babies - they're all a bloody nightmare! Think I'll lock them in their rooms and go to the pub having not set foot in a pub this millenium I just have to assume they still exist

DD was a very easy baby and toddler, slept 12 hours a night from 6 weeks old, not a fussy eater etc.
As a young teenager she was vile, we had 3 years of vileness with her until she was 16.
17 - 21 was the most expensive phase, College, driving lessons/car then University.
I know people who had easy babies and toddlers and those who had an absolute nightmare with babies who didn't sleep, toddlers who wouldn't eat, I think if you have an easy time for the first 3 years, you are very lucky.

Ali You will probably look back on it with nostalga!

I don't think the early years are a doddle,. But they do serve as training for the later stages.

The stages of childhood are like pregnancy; first trimester is knackering, second trimester is piss easy, third trimester is knackering. And then they leave you, which hurts but then also brings a sense of relief

And then of course there are those who suffer all the way through (before anyone flames me).

Perhaps you slacked off at the toddler stage OP and are paying for it now? [mischievous]

I've got a baby, a toddler and a shit job. Do I win?

Ouch!

Wow, people are ill tempered. I think this was meant to be lighthearted.

She' not comparing her life to your life, she's comparing it to her old life.

OP. Mine are in what I think of as a nice, relatively easy, bit (9 and 12). I found the toddler and baby bit weirdly hard (sleep deprivation is a killer).

I fear the teenage years, yet I look forward to them as well. Two big smelly boys towering over me,

Unless you're wishing a minor injury/illness on yourself in order to get some rest - then no you are not more tired than me.

I was thinking about this earlier.... I have 3 teens. They dint get any easier, and they DO stay up later and seem to have more drama

I look at mums with younger kids tho, and still remember those difficult days

On balance, I think the teens are slightly easier

Mintyy
Yes! Wtf is that all about?
And I do the thing where I walk into a room then can't remember what on earth I went in there for.
I just need to start shouting at the radio and humming in lifts and I will actually be my mother.

Yes Jamie, was thinking the same

Lighthearted threads seem to backfire more and more these days on MN, why is that!?

i nearly cut my fucking finger off today with a new knife
knife has gone in bin in annoyance and i have done a patch up job on finger as i don't have time for minor injuries

everyone is ill tempered on AIBU. You could post you skipped after butterflies around your garden in summer and nothing was wrong in the world and by the end you would be a benefit scrounging religious extremist who abused dogs
or something
i have found this myself

I can only assume (generously) that people didn't read the post, just the title, and assumed it was going to be another SAHM v WOHM fight. Whereas in fact the OP is just making a CLEARLY humorous observation about her own life.

Even so, I can't agree. I only have one, so what do I know, but she was a nightmare toddler and a mostly delightful teenager. Perhaps that's the way it works - you get one or the other.