To say parenting is boring?

[BoredYummyMummy]

I’m bored of; the shitty nappies, the crying, the whining, the coaxing to do absolutely everything, the cheery ‘well done’s’ as they do the same fucking thing agaiiiin, the infinite laundry, the tantrums, the streams of snot and oh my god I’m bored of fucking BING

Any sane human has to find the repetition bone achingly boring?

I'm like you in that I don't find "Mumming" boring at all including the relentless parts of it. But I'm sure it's because I work full time and I have one child. She's my little friend who needs help with everything. She knows she's got my full attention and my full love and so she's very reasonable (well as reasonable as any child can practically be).
She was a terrible sleeper who didn't sleep through at night till she was 3.5. I had to do a 9-5 job with no sleep at night for 2.5 full years. I was knackered but I know this is what I had signed up for and so plodded on. But yeah not having another one.

It's boring when they're babies and toddlers. My child is nearly 9 and it's not boring now, we can do so much more.

I've got a 2yo and a 4 month old. Fuck me it's boring, I adore them i really do, the 2 year old is hilarious but she never stops talking, the 4 month old is adorable and sweet but he doesn't sleep well.
I'm a SAHM although thinking about going back to work next year.
It's the imagination play for me, I'd rather do 500 loads of laundry than be daddy pig one more time
I've been up since 5am after spending every hour feeding the little guy back to sleep 🙃

@MangyInseam @Giraffesandbottoms I don’t do 4 loads of washing a day, I said I did one overnight. I meant clothing everyday times 4 as in 4 people, two of which go through 2-3 outfits plus pjs plus a towel for spillages plus Muslin everyday ..

Interesting reading responses, it’s evident that we don’t all sing off the same hymn sheet.

99% of the time so it's just me and my little irrational friend palling about?

See that sounds lovely, I’m not surprised you have a more positive perspective on it. I have two who BOTH need 100% attention and I can’t give that all the time because I have one set of hands. Inevitably that means there is A LOT of crying, both teething and ill so hanging off every limb/pulling my hair/blowing their noses on me/grabbing my nipple as they climb up me etc times two.. it’s incredibly intense but a PP thinks this would be better if I was more organised 😂😂😂😂 love MN

@BoredYummyMummy

i have a rule for my two boys that’s basically that they have a bath and fresh pjs every night and they start the day in beautiful clean clothes. Barring some sort of absolute disaster (they pour juice over their heads or something poo related) I changing their clothes. Otherwise they would be in several outfits a day based on a bit of mud from the garden or paint or whatever. Children get messy during the day, that’s part of the fun!

Oh yeah @SugarAndSpiceIsNice the sleep, 2 years and I haven’t slept longer than 2 hours (air high five)

We work on the same logic @Giraffesandbottoms

@Marty13

i can’t understand why you would be going through IVF for a third if you don’t enjoy it?!

I’ll never forget a friend turning to me as we pushed the pushchairs down to the baby group….. “I really really can’t be bothered to teach him colours” she said “I’ve just fucking taught my eldest!

this is sad

@BoredYummyMummy

sleep deprivation makes things 200 x worse

@DueyCheatemAndHow oops sorry, I thought you were calling me a cunt 🥴🥲

Not at all. Parenting is savage enough without others piling on the judgement.

I'm the same. I can't even manage a convo with DH while the kids are around. They don't stop talking. I find it really really suffocating.

Apart from their moments of intense cuteness and wonder at how AMAZING the world is because there's TRUCK in it!!!!, pre-school parenting is horribly boring.

I loved DC as toddlers. They were very cute and funny and inquisitive but the Groundhog Day drudgery made me want to run away.

It gets better when they go to school, when their food ends up in their mouths not on the floor, when you can say: I'm shattered, let me lie down for half an hour. Eventually you get to say, do the washing up and make me a cup of tea, darling, I need to watch Shaun Evans in Endeavour again.

I'm actually hiding in the bathroom pretending I'm doing 'something' just to escape all the things the OP is complaining about.

I used to do that with all my previous boring jobs. 😊

At least 80% of it is incredibly boring. When they are babies you spend your time feeding them and changing nappies. When they are toddlers you chase then around and try to get them to eat food or playing tedious repetitive games that young children enjoy. When they're at school most of the time you are tidying up after them (or nagging them to tidy up!), trying to get them to do homework, driving them to multiple clubs/playdates/birthday parties, then as they get to teens you seem to spend most of your time either arguing with them or worrying about them.

However, the fun and lovely bits that are the minority of parenting - lovely days out, funny conversations, movie nights, a good cuddle somehow seem to make up for the majority that is tedium. I try to remind myself of that when I'm getting dragged down in the mundane and boring stuff.

Ah it is so boring when they’re small! Also it must be very hard to have a one year old and a two year old. It does get better though. Mine are 6 and 9 now. We can do much more fun things. We’re going to Alton towers next week and the little one is finally past the CBeebies land stage and we can actually go on good rides which I’m excited about! I went and watched the lost city with my eldest the other day- no more peppa pig or bing anymore. You will get there!

Not at all. Parenting is savage enough without others piling on the judgement

I beg to differ. I think there are aspects of parenting which can be tough but I absolutely don’t think it’s right for people to have children if they don’t enjoy it. I will judge someone who says, whilst pushing their children in the buggy “I can’t be fucked to teach the second one the colour”.

That is not funny to me, that’s sad. The “slummy mummy” jokes and the like are not funny. I absolutely appreciate some people might find aspects of it boring but I am always surprised at how many threads are on here where people actively dislike and/or regret being parents. Nobody is made to be a parent, certainly not of several children.

And this was your choice to have two.

So you need to start sucking it up and change your mindset so that the children you chose to have are not negatively impacted by your negative attitude.

Did you really think thta you'd go to 4 people and not have 4 peoples worth of clothes? It's hardly when talking about a 1yo having a couple of changes like that's mountains in one day is it?

It's about mindset. And atm you're stuck in a very negative one. You need to start to see the positives in your life. Perhaps fill it with more activities so you children aren't as restricted and you're not as worried and focussed on your perceives drudge, which is part and parcel of being an adult and a parent.

Treasure what you have, for only too soon they will be grown up and not need ot want you. And you'll realise that you missed out on their majesty complaining about the drudgery and bit seeing their glory.

@ChoiceMummy

absolutely agree

It's utterly draining and exhausting at points, but I wouldn't say I find it boring. Just full on and exhausting. But there are many parts I love (cuddling my baby, making her laugh and giggle, singing songs with her and seeing her face light up...) mixed in with many I really dislike (relentlessly picking food up off the floor at mealtimes, tantrums, when she fights sleep, leaving her at childminder's while I work...).

It's a balanced mix for me of good and bad. I see it as more of a relentless rollercoaster than anything else.

I agree with this.

I'm currently sitting in my PJs on the sofa with my 1 year old snoring fast asleep cuddled in my arms. I'm not remotely bored. This is my most happy place, as corny as that might sound. I treasure it because I miss out on these cuddles all week when I'm at work. But later when she's refusing to eat her tea because she's over tired, or chucking food on the floor, or throwing a tantrum because I got her out of the bath... I'll probably feel exhausted and frustrated up with being a mum. But boredom? No. It's not an emotion I feel in relation to parenting.

I also sometimes find it hard - I have a three year old and a just turned one year old - but I wouldn't say that I find our life relentless or boring. I do think it's partly about mindset, and I think one of the reasons I found the transition so hard after we had our first was that I found it hard to change my mindset.

If you add up every chore or repetitive thing you do for your children it's a long, overwhelming list. But it would be if you did this for every chore you did in general - cleaning your own teeth twice a day everyday for your whole life could feel like a huge bind if you let it and dwelt on it, but you don't because it's just a background thing you know is there. Adjusting to your new routines takes time, but I think the thing that seems to make such a huge difference to whether or not people are happy parents is whether you can find some (not constant) joy and fun times in your time with the children. Some people seem to consider parenting as constant work and as child-free time as their only fun time off. The problem with that is that unless you have a team of nannies that's going to make you miserable because you're never going to get enough 'fun' time if you automatically discount any time when the children are present.

I'm currently sitting in my PJs on the sofa with my 1 year old snoring fast asleep cuddled in my arms. I'm not remotely bored

aww, see that’s lovely, I miss that.
I can’t do that anymore because 2YO only sleeps in the car or in a pitch black bedroom and 1YO has to fuss about in the cot on him own for 20 minutes before each nap.

I used to love nothing more than popping my boob out of a sleepy baby’s mouth and just lying there watching them breathe.

@ChoiceMummy aww thanks hunni xoxo most helpful comment on the thread. Xoxo

@BoredYummyMummy

That does sound tough. My 1yo tends to need to be rocked and shushed to sleep in someone's arms. Which is lovely in some ways but also probably going to be a PITA when she's 2 and still won't sleep without being rocked 🙈🤣