To ask if you're a SAHM, how many hours a day are you on your feet?

[SugarlumpFairyQueen]

I only ask as I am a SAHM and I have lots of days where I literally don't sit from the moment I wake up till I go to bed bar the odd time to eat (and that's if I even get to eat properly!)

Like today, I have only sat down at 10pm with a cup of tea and MN and Im just shattered! My legs are aching and I can't even be bothered getting my arse upstairs.

Is it me or are other SAHMs like this too?

It makes me feel like I'm not using my time efficiently or something. You'd think I have a million projects going on or I'm juggling lots of events but I'm not!

I have nothing to show for it!

Yes I'm constantly on the go. It never stops!

Tbh I think everyone is like this, whether a SAHM or not. All those chores still need doing by us all. It is definitely down to organisation. I do housework and laundry in the evenings as well as dinners and making 5 packed lunches for the next day but still sit down before 10pm :-) In fact, I am in bed exhausted at 10pm

It's the first day of the holidays here, the older 3 are playing Lego in another room, the baby is napping and I'm lounging on the sofa with coffee and some toast.

No clubs, no school, bliss. My business definitely revolves around term time activities.

That sounds exhausting OP! I don't think I couldn't function long term like that. I do compressed hours, so 37 hours over 4 days. Today is my day off work so is non stop with laundry, chores, DS activities and food shop. We'll start to wind down at about half past five. I couldn't go flat out until 10pm every day?
Are you a bit of a perfectionist? It does seem awfully full on.

My DC are 8 & 11 so older, but my Fitbit tells me I typically spend 10 out of the 12 hours I track (8-8) on my feet, I do sit down for lunch and I squeeze in a fair bit of me time and mumsnet. But it is my preference to keep busy.

I'm a SAHM and I definitely do not spend the whole day on my feet. I probably spend too much time on my bum if I'm honest, though less time sitting than I would if I still worked in an office I suppose.

DD and I usually cuddle up in bed first thing while I have tea and she has a cup of milk, then we go downstairs for breakfast. I sit down to eat my breakfast and then am on my feet while DD eats hers, as she takes longer than me. I use the time to empty and reload the dishwasher. Then we go upstairs to have showers and get dressed, then we get ready to go out. By the time we've had a wander in town and done errands etc it's usually time for DD's lunch, so we do that and then I put DD down for her nap which involves sitting with her while I read her some stories and she has some more milk. Then she has nap time while I do a few chores but I also put my feet up and watch Judge Judy read a book. When she gets up we'll normally watch some CBeebies together and then go and play or read stories in the garden. Then we make tea and it's time for her bath. A lot of what we do doesn't require me to be standing up. I sit by the bath, we sit in the garden, I sit with her at lunch and tea time. Maybe I'm doing it wrong! I do like to keep the house reasonably clean and tidy, but I'm maybe more slack about it than the average. I figure it's not going to be pristine with a young toddler anyway.

Speak for yourself miss duke. Some of us gave priorities other than running around fetching and carrying.

Busyness does not equal productivity or efficiency. It smacks of time filling to me.

There is more to life than maintaining bricks and mortar.

I am busy all day and rarely sit down. I do insist on a few 'sitting down' cups of tea throughout the day and I also won't leave a meal to go cold unless it's essential. I also try down tools when the children are in bed around 7, even if it means having to tackle the mess at 6 am the next day. I'd go mad if I didn't have some time to chill and wind down myself. My dc are 4yo and 18mo, I really enjoy being busy all day.

I can assure you I don't just full time, I bloody wish!

I think there's a tendency to idolise business or think it's somehow superior too. Or think we should be busy. Or some people don't really know how to slow down and stop.

I've had to learn through ill health and I think you do start to see that some of the busy wasn't necessary.

Maybe there could be a thread t
Like the money audit where we help people see what they could do to be less busy ( no you don't need to wash towels after every use/ iron everything etc. Things that children can do to help....)

When my husband was working shifts 7 days a week, I would keep going from 6am until 10pm entertaining three preschool kids, and attending to the mountains of housework. After feeling like I was on the brink of madness, I started to streamline stuff, and actually sat and worked out how to be more efficient. Just things like having shopping delivered, having the occasional eggs/chips/beans dinner. Not cooking elaborate desserts after every bloody meal (whyyyy)!!! I also have an indoors day once a week where I do all the laundry, arrange any deliveries, repairs etc. And anything that needs to be dealt with like forms to be filled etc I do on that day too. It seems counterintuitive to do tonnes at once rather than spreading across the week, but I definitely have more spare time on the other days because I'm not flitting between a hundred different jobs. I've found I can do things like watch tv once the kids are in bed with this system. I would also suggest that a lot of it was born from boredom, too, as my husband was always at work, so have made an effort to be more social even when babysitters are scarce- inviting friends to me for drinks and a movie or something similar. Try and slow the pace a bit, you'll end up absolutely exhausted, both mentally and physically.

This thread makes me feel tired! I'm a SAHM to one toddler and have plenty of time to sit down. Flat is clean and tidy.. Toddler entertained.. Quick meals. I don't get this need to fill the time constantly! Maybe I'm being naive though and it gets busier when they get older and need taking to places? And with more kids. I better enjoy this calm before the storm

Don't you ever sit down to read stories to your kids, or play cars with them? I'm on the go a lot (1 year old and nearly 3 year old) but I still spend a good few hours sitting while we draw or whatever.

I seem to spend quite a lot of time sitting down despite being a SAHM. When eating lunch, when sitting with DD whilst she plays with something in the playroom or does painting/drawing, when they watch TV, when sitting in the sandpit at the park, etc (DS is at school at the moment). I suppose I'm on my feet more if we're out and about at a playground or if I'm attempting to do housework and gardening when DD is at playgroup.