To think my children should be able to be home for more than an hour during the day?

[Doesthisdescribeyou]

We got back about fifty minutes ago. Three year old and baby. Made lunch for three year old and he ate it, spilling a fair amount on the floor. He then lay on the floor so got covered in food. Took him to the toilet and he’d wet himself, ran to get clean clothes. Meanwhile the baby is crying and I’m running back and forth trying to sort her. As I’m trying (unsuccessfully) to feed her the three year old is going to his toy box and bringing toys into the lounge which now looks like a tornado. To my shame I ended up shouting.

Yet all morning we’ve been out and they’ve been delightful.

Am I doing something wrong here?

Nursery is your friend

Sounds like a day at home on any given weekend, tbh, with my 2 & 4yo DC.

Sometimes it all just becomes a bit much, even if kids are just being kids, but oh boy I can sympathise. I've lost my rag too many times at situations like this 😆

Have you considered trying some Instagram worthy activity that takes at least four times as long to set up as the 3 year old maintains any interest in it?

In all seriousness I've got a similar gap and these ages are really hard. The endless rain doesn't help either. Cut yourself some slack here.

I used to find it easier to be out as they then had my focus and I wasn't trying to keep or get the house tidy.

3 and a baby is hard work and days happen when your buttons are pressed.

There's something about coming home after being out, where on a deep level you think "aaaah time to relax". That's how you are as an adult. It took me many many years of parenting small children to realise that I was expecting that feeling and not getting it and finding things really hard as a result!

Very astute observation - holidays as well.

Put newspaper on the floor under the high chair, roll up and bin before you drop the stinker on the floor.
Put an old Moses basket or a box n the toilet and pop the baby in it while you transform stinker into fresh as a daisy.
After meals toddlers can play in a pop up tent with selected toys if you can’t see or hear them otherwise they must immediately tidy up. Tent time coincides with coffee time.

I used to find it easier to be out as they then had my focus and I wasn't trying to keep or get the house tidy.

I'm one of 5, and we did seem to spend an inordinate amount of time at the park when we were small. My dear Mum probably sat in a semi comatose state until her blood pressure returned to normal.
Also, long, long car trips to really random places.

Eh? This is completely normal. That’s how toddlers play with toys. Lower your expectations!

Get some CBeebies on.

And don't hold yourself to social media parenting standards.

People would never say this shit to their friends irl who were struggling, not sure why they feel the need to say it here.

The problem with the Internet is unless you're deemed free of all flaws then you don't get any grace .

Ah deep breath OP, we've all had those moments and lost our cool! Don't worry.

You can't be on top of everything all the time with small kids. There will be mess, accidents and sometimes everyone needs a full outfit change

All of this.

OP don't feel bad for not always having it together. You're only human and the toddler phase is hard enough without a baby thrown in to the mix. It doesn't last forever though thank god

Your house is gonna be a mess for the next few years, the sooner I stopped trying to change that the better I felt. You're not an octopus, you can only do one thing at a time, but when you have two young kids theres always multiple things that need doing at once and it's overwhelming to anyone who isn't a robot. With me I could handle stuff apart from crying/tantrums/screaming so as long as my child was not doing any of those I'd let them crack on and deal with any mess etc later.

no, you are not doing anything wrong. This is the bog standard toddler and baby experience.

If you've heard enough about rotating toys and shower curtains, can I interest you in "This too shall pass" ?

I stick my children in front of their iPads for 10 mins if I need to clear up and get the next activity out.
O know some will say get them to help but that just doesn’t work with mine

The TV was on! 😂

Oh OP, you're my hero. What a reply.

You deserve a great day for that!

Ppl r so mean !

I get it. Ur meaning why r u not even home an hour n it seems like chaos. Ppl saying u don’t have the patience for children …. Not true. Sometimes ur just totally overtired and overwhelmed and just stretched too thin trying to see to everyone’s needs,

I have a 2 year old and a 4 month old and a husband who works long days 70+ hours a week ! It’s defo better being out. I try to avoid going out to things early in the morning. Means it’s over by lunch time n u have the rest of the day to fill !

This made me laugh so much !

Oh OP it's hard going for sure! I always felt overwhelmed in the house and more relaxed out! The best thing i done was decant pretty much everything I needed into the kitchen Diner. Anything before dinner/tea time was done in there. It contained the mess, and the kids - I could do bits and pieces like cooking/laundry and my living room wasn't a riot every night.
Not sure if this is feasible for you.

People are indeed mean. People being horrible here no doubt are far worse themselves in similar circumstances. We hear you OP.

Because home is your kids safe place and all their 'good behaviour' that they had to display while out in public goes by the wayside. It's why a lot of school age kids come home and act out - they have all this stuff they've held inside throughout the day and now they can expel it all.

People would indeed never utter this sanctimonious shit to anyone in real life. Hang in there OP, I have a 3.5 year old and a baby, and it can be bloody soul destroying when stuck at home 🫣