What do you honestly do all day…

[Thechatteringofthebirds]

If your a Sahm with dc at school?

Not a bashing thread, as this is sort of me and curious what others do

My Dd has just started school full time, so those days of being together all day, play date meet ups during the week daytime, days out etc are now gone 😩
I do work, but only two evenings per week and one weekend morning at the moment.
On a day of the week I plan for the times I teach, aside from that, I drop off, walk my dog, some tidying and washing (have a cleaner every fortnight) watch tv, read…then pick Dd up, go to the beach, walks, do her reading, dinner, bath, school things etc. What else do you do?
In September I’ll pick up more days and hours, but for these last few months I want to make sure I make the most of it.
What do you do or would do if you could?

I became a SAHM when our youngest was 15 months. I did go back part time for a bit after maternity but I didn’t like it. Our youngest is a teen now and I’ve still not gone back. I don’t intend to.

I used to volunteer at the school when our kids were younger and have gone other volunteering over the years but not at the moment. Now I do the school run morning and afternoon, in between I take the dogs out for a couple of hours, sort our other animals, tidy up a bit and do anything that needs doing. Then I do stuff like see friends, go for a run, swim, shop, go for lunch with my partner who works from home, do dinner, bake, read, watch tv, whatever I fancy really.

It’s lovely not having to rush around. My life is fairly easy and that’s just how I like it. 😂

oldest not youngest!

I work Thursday/Friday/Saturday. Ds is in full time school at the beginning of the week I go to the gym, walk the dog, visit my elderly parents . Do the housework , sometimes meet a friend for coffee. It goes surprisingly quick. And it means Sundays (our only day t together) we can relax, got out etc. it works for us.

I had a year of being a SAHM. I'd looked forward to it but felt a bit adrift and unhappy whilst I was "off"

To start with we were in the middle of the house move from hell so for the first 5 months we lived with family and I recovered from burnout (stressful job and children with SEN). During that time I;

Did yoga
Walked dog
Did food shop and cooking
Tidied round a bit
Spent time napping and scrolling in bed
Read a bit
SEN admin for my child.
Did an online course on Autism.
Met friends for coffees.
Started counselling.

Once we moved house I set about;

Unpacking
Decluttering
Walked the dog
Got a bit stressed about gardening.....did some but deciding now to keep it low maintenance whilst Im still in the thick of caring for SEN children.
Online tutoring
Met friends and family for coffees, walks and catch ups.
Continued with counselling.

It's taken me over a year to get each room in the house tidy and sorted and it's still not quite right in some areas. Also needs more decluttering but I've come to realise that is an ongoing task.

I'm picking up a bit more work and study now as I felt lonely and adrift during my time not working. I enjoy a bit of balanced and flexible work, meeting colleagues and using the skills I have spent my adult life acquiring and honing.

It's been a learning curve. I wouldn't want to be a SAHP/not work at all for long term. What I do want is a career where I can work hours I pick, that I enjoy and can envisage myself doing for the long term that also allows me free time each day and each week for long walks with the dog and gym trips to keep healthy.

im a sahm, both kids at school. I go to the gym most days between 1-2 hours depending on what classes i want to do that day.
i go food shopping twice a week
the rest of the time im cleaning, doing the washing and helping my parents with things.
occasionally ill have lunch out with friends too.

all i can say @theduchessofspork is i personally never have time. i dont have 6 hours. its 5 hours due to me doing 3 different school runs a day.

yesterday i spent the day painting a decking and going to the supermarket. and i ate lunch. that was it.

im sure other people might find find time to watch tv etc but personally i dont. i do all house maintenance, cleaning etc

If you have to physically take and collect dc from school that can eat into the day. Then I eat my meal at lunch which takes about 45 minutes. There's a dog walk , the dishes , laundry and a tidy up.

When my dc3 is at nursery I have a bit time to myself, I don't get that other days. When they are at hone, they create more to be done.

It's not a full day.

However, houses where nobody is in all day stay tidier than occupied ones.

I work 4 short days a week but today is my day off. I plan to raid the Sainsbury's 20% off clothing deal then go for brunch at a farm shop with 2 SAHM friends whose kids are also at school. Most Fridays I do clean all the floors and bathrooms though, but I like cleaning.

I did tonnes of DIY

I do 2 volunteer roles in community which is about a day a week.

Gym and swimming, usually straight after drop off which is 8am as their schools start early.

Therapy.

I have a cleaner for 5 hrs pw and gardeners as well.

If I can, I nap between 2pm and 4pm

I'm a nurse and work long shifts so have some week days off. Sometimes I'm exhausted and just chill watching TV while the kids are school, sometimes I meet friends/my mum for food, I do the food shop, cleaning etc.

I've been using up my annual leave the last 2 weeks and I've gutted my entire house, sorted all the clothes etc. it's absolutely gleaming and I'm not chronically exhausted! This is the life lol.

I basically support everyone.
We like a calm house and relaxed weekends.
the kids have grown up taking more responsibility each year for stuff but I'm there to make sure that's happened. So it's gone from PE kit packed for them to them totally sorting without much shouting and only dropping it off twice in ten years.
DH concentrates on work and I support him to be a decent father outside of work.
I sometimes do quite niche project work but mostly I make our home a fun, happy place to be.

I was never a SAHM but I did work part time (3 days a week) and retired early so during my spare hours I did/do the following.

Housework
Decluttering or sorting out cupboards etc
Shopping
Gardening
Reading
Puzzles
Nintendo switch games
Volunteer work
Gym and exercise classes
Hiking
Practised piano
Life admin/finances
Walked my daughters dog
Saw friends
Researched holidays
Hobbies
Cycling
Swimming
Researched walks for my hiking groups
Visit NT properties or local attractions
Cinema/theatre

Enjoy your spare time and hope you manage to fill your time productively.

Oh and watching TV is not on the list but I do that evenings or when unwell.

I work Monday and Tuesday and have three days off whilst the kids are at school. We have a cleaner one of those days.
Wednesday is for relaxation - I will do a workout, tidy up, do some washing, then just decompress and relax. I nap, read the magazine from the weekend papers, practice drums (every day).
Thursday is project day, I will declutter or deep clean something or sort out something annoying. I also start thinking about the weekend and if I need to get anything sorted, book shop and meal plan for the following week.
Friday is a more social day, another workout, I have a drum lesson then often see a friend for lunch, I will do a top up shop and have a quick clean round ready for the weekend.
Lots of time spent on my phone if I’m honest. I try and walk the dog most days but also have a dog Walker if it’s shit weather or I don’t want to rush the other things I am doing.
About once a month I head to the big town for the day, or go to library or have a day out with the dog.
I am getting a bit bored. I was thinking about picking up another day at work but it’s long shifts and a nightmare for childcare and I’m hoping to start studying a module in September so that might give me a bit more to get my teeth into. I’m treasurer for our PTA and also run my sons football team but that’s mostly sitting on my phone doing admin.
It’s actually not as long as you think and often I find myself at a loose end at 2 but there’s not much point starting anything else at that time.
I like gardening so I’ll be outside more in the coming months.

Have naps without anyone there to judge

We’ve had this conversation before doll- I’m a dyke, married to a woman who loves to work and loves me being at home… and I’m disabled and couldn’t work now anyway. I’ve name changed.

@Notlikeamother Unsure how you being gay is relevant?

If notanother had said ‘My wife loves me being at home’ then loads of posters would have assumed she was a man and the thread would have taken quite the turn…

This is a really interesting thread. I work FT with 2 in nursery but even if my H was a good earner (he isn’t) once they go to school I don’t see how it’s justified not to work at all. He wouldn’t be happy if I had loads of free time and wasn’t contributing and vice versa. It wouldn’t be fair.

Hmm well yesterday I did some gardening for 2/3 hours - cut the grass, dug over a small flowerbed, repaired a bird house… then I mopped the floors, changed the beds, then did some knitting and watched some tv. Most days I try and do some sort of DIY / cleaning type stuff and then spread it out with some tv / internet relaxing stuff in between.

The short answer is: whatever I want

Long answer is, aside from the obvious (kids stuff, house stuff) I regularly:

see friends - brunch, lunch, walks
watch telly with my feet in my foot massager
learn piano
batch cook and bake which is more like a hobby really
got really good at watercolours
getting into sewing clothes
CROCHET, so relaxing
volutneer with a local clothes bank (doesn’t take up much time)
school stuff - eg at the moment I’m queueing to watch an assembly

after 8 years of SAHM I’m retraining so that takes up some time too.

There are sooooo many other things I can think of doing too! I don’t understand people who say they’d be bored if they didn’t work. The world is so wide!

I do have a toddler at home who only does 1 day nursery, so do some baby groups etc too, but have 2 kids at primary school.

I always have one day off childfree every week, I do the school run, then go back, do things like tidy up after breakfast, empty the dishwasher then ill go to the gym. Maybe go for a run too if I'm feeling it. Then before I know it it's time to go get the kids.

This week I've got 3 days off so Monday I gave the house a good clean, yesterday went for a long run, got back a bit before 12, had a shower, nipped into work to drop some things off then home for a rest then back to get the kids.

Today I have just dropped the kids off, I'm on my way home to get my things ready then I'm going to the gym then for a sauna and a swim. No pick up to do today so I'll just do a few jobs when I get back and have a well deserved rest.

I could quite easily fill every day if I was a SAHM with 6 hours free time. It's not actually that long by the time you've factored in the time to get there and back.

Cool! You do you boo! No judgement this end, but your post is a tad judgy 😄

Well you'd be contributing in terms of running the house. If you had children in school and didn't work, I'm sure you'd take on all laundry, cooking, cleaning etc. Also school ends at about 3 and there are 14 weeks school holiday to cover. You actually wouldn't have as much free time as you'd think.