To ask SAHM's to tell me what they do all day??

[LadyMaryofDownton]

Hi, i hope that didn't offend :) heres why... i am a stay at home Mum! I am asking because i would like to know how you pass the day to give me some ideas how to pass mine. Weekends are spent looking after Nanna & catching up on housework. DH works 6 days per week 8-5

I have one DD at Primary school aged 10 two boys age 4 & 2.

Heres my daily routine which i stick to religisouly (I have anxiety issues with time/structure) However i want to break free of this and i need ideas.

Kids up at 6.30 - (Their choice not mine) watch tv for half an hour until we all waken up.
7:00 - Get washed & Dressed
7:30 - Everyone eats breakfast
8:00 - Get kids ready for school/pack lunches/ go over a few things.
8:30-9:30 - School run
9:30-10:30 - Visit my Nanna & get her dressed help her with breakfast (I have a toddler with me).
10:30-11:30 - Tidy up from breakfast/do laundry
11:30 - 12:00 - Play puzzles with my DS
12:00 - Make and eat an easy lunch for me and DS.
1:00- 2:30 -DS goes for a nap & I tidy up & study for a diploma.
2:30 - 3:30 - School run.
3:30-5:30 - Help the kids with their home work/make dinner.
5:30 - DH comes home/gets washed changed/ we all eat dinner.
6:30 - Tidy up from dinner
6:30- 7:30m- Play with the kids
7:30 - Kids get a bath & get ready for bed
8:00 - Kids go to bed
8:00 - I get a shower & do my hair
9:00 - Lie on the sofa watching catchup tv/ study some more.
10:30 - Go to bed.

Disclaimer:- While do this i am also taking care of my toddler who is needy and never wants to leave mummy not even for one second & also trying at some stage to read to him/play when i can.

Also two Tuesday mornings a month we spend the morning at my friends house. I live way out in the countryside the nearest village is 10 miles away, where the kids go to school. Theres not much to do around here apart from play in the garden & theres only one toddler group which belongs to a church to far away.

So on paper this might seem like i am passing the time. Heres my problem i feel so bored everyday. I feel like i don't do enough & that i am not achieving enough each day.

Id really appreciate it if you could give me run down of your day so i can see if am doing this right? or if i should be doing more, its a bit like groundhog day around here.

Thanks :)

Every day is different to be honest apart from the usual get up get dressed and drop the kids off at school. Now i currently have three children in three different schools/nursery and as none of them are local i spend a lot of time in my car ferrying them back and forth. My youngest is only 4 but my other two are older and have a lot of activities both in school and out so in between taking them to these i do the usual cooking, cleaning, playing games with my youngest, reading with them etc etc, my days go by in the blink of an eye and for me personally i found it less challenging or "busy" back when i was working full time.

I think the point is you think being a sahm will be all trips to exciting places and coffee bars, but the reality is sometimes you get into a routine that feels just like work! I find other people like friends are family are the best way to break my routine. Finding other people who are at a loose end in the day and a bit of adult company is what makes the time fly by for me so I often have parents and in laws to stay, and friends whenever I can.

I think its really lovely that you spend so much time with your Nanna and I bet your toddler benefits alot from that, and your Nanna from that time too, So I wouldnt necessarily cut that out. My Nan recently died so I am missing it all sooo much, and my ds had spend all of his life very close to her and they were good friends which Im really glad about.
Is she perhaps able to go out? if so national trust might suit her too and be nice for you?

id definitely do something between 10.30 and 1 in your routine, lots of play groups/forest schools etc may be morning things and fit in nicely or you could take a picnic lunch to the national trust or whatever else nice things you have in this weather (park/beaches/woods etc). id defo leave the tidying up to once at the end of the day. National trust also do some fun things sometimes like forest schools/buggy running etc

I also like a nice routine so you know what your doing each day and each morning at like 10-1 we do an excursion/group of things I think are important for ds and fun/easy for me. So library, group, tourist place etc (lots of excursions do yearly passes so if theres anything your interested in like that you should check it out). I think getting out of the house really helps. And a picnic means it neednt be expensive.Or since your v rural maybe an adventure walk or minibeast safari or something else fun outdoors while its so sunny?

Youve also got some time window in the afternoon maybe 3.30-5, or even 5.30 if you were doing a quick meal (or you could cook up a big lot of dinners on one of your dhs days off and freeze them ready to do quickly so you didnt spend each day cooking for a long time?). So could do something fun all together then maybe? maybe Dh could help with homework/tidy up/cook?

I think housework becomes really boring and it helps to prioritise fun times, or to feel productive to prioritise things that will be beneficial to the children/family as a whole (which includes you!and includes fun!).

Being totally honest,I do sweet f all,except tidy the house and other mindless tasks.
Its bloody boring a lot of the time and I miss working, it doesn't pay me to work,in fact it costs me with childcare and tax credits.
So while lots of women love it,and good for them,there are those that feel stuck like me with little choice in the matter.

I am a sahm to a 7yr old, a 5yr old and a 1 yr old. The activities that I do each day vary but the general routine is the same.

4-5am: dc3 wakes up.
6.30: dcs 1 and 2 wake up
7.00: breakfast
7.30: get dressed, showered, pack bags, tidy up, put washing on
8.40: leave for school
9.00: walk/toddle group/meet friends/visit family/do shopping
11.30/12.00: dc3 has lunch and goes for a nap afterwards
12.30ish: I have some lunch then get some jobs done i.e ironing, cleaning out pets, clean bathroom, fold laundry.
2.00: dc3 wakes from nap and I give him a snack and spend some time with him
3.00: leave for school
3.30: return home and sort out snacks for big ones and chat about their day
4.30: start dinner
5-6: have dinner, sometimes kids on their own, sometimes all of us
6.30: bath time followed by reading (dc2 reads school book)
7.00: 1yo and 5yo go to bed and 7yo comes down to read
7.30: 7yo goes to bed
8.00: if dh and I didn't eat with the children we eat now (he gets home just before 6 usually)

I don't do anything madly exciting and I'm tied to a certain routine because of school but I like to mix up our activities a little.

I am doing a German class (not for fun - I live in Switzerland!) but the kids (3yo twins) are in childcare for that time. We do
6.50 get up
7.30 all leave the house, run to the tram
8.30-12 German class
12-2 get the train home (lunch on the train), kids play out while I get a bit of batch cooking or some cleaning done
2-3.30 nap, Mumsnet German homework
4-6 play down at the park/bit of grocery shopping
6.30 dinner, DH comes home, get the packed lunches done for next day, kids play out
8pm bath
9pm bed (I know, I know, we're stopping the nap soon).

I don't know. It's not easy when you have a little one, I can feel the girls' demands on my minute by minute attention starting to ease off a bit and it is a huge relief but I reckon if you have a 3yo or under in your care, you can't really do much that requires long attention.

I am getting stealth boast vibes too. Such a cynic.

LadyMary, I try to get out of the house each day. I volunteer one hour a week at the children's centre and my two come with me. I have also booked us on a cookery course at a different children's centre in the area on the same day, this is the busy day of the week and I am shattered by the end of it. I also go to a church group for a bit of a socialise on another day with other mums. I have an annual pass for a local farm/museum which is great for little kids. That is enough for me. I am bored now because both mine have gone for a nap (they don't do it very often) and I am stuck for quiet-ish things to do so not to wake them.

ladyMary

just for a range of answers this is what I do.

I H.ed dd who is 11 and have done for past 3 years. Before this I did various courses and gained lots of qualifications.
I know it's hard to find time when they are little but when ours were I'd grab every opportunity that dh had to spare. I have always kept my own hobbies and interests even if at that time they didn't take me out of the house. I love reading and also geneology, so am on ancestry quite a bit.
I also help dh in the business on a voluntary basis for now.
All this and ferrying dd around and before this her brothers has kept me busy for the past 24 years or so