To feel the weather is actually now making me a terrible parent

[urex]

Another day pouring with rain and resorting to tv or other long winded draining activities in the house. I’m so fed up. So miserable. It’s May now! I know complaining about it doesn’t make it better but I’ve just had enough. No fresh air again, just like the first 4 months of the year. It’s completely pouring down

My experience with the sort of indoor activities that people suggest is that they're good for about half a day. You need the park or some outing for the other half. I've never been able to stretch crafts and baking and jigsaws and kitchen discos to cover a whole day in even when mine were older.

The decent soft plays here are £10 + paying for bus return. Even the leisure centre one is £6.50. That’s without buying any drinks and taking our own lunch. Swimming is £6. We do make use of our local church playgroup and toddler rhyme time at the library but these are once weekly, term time only and short sessions. We have amazing toddler sessions at a trampoline place locally but it’s £14 bloody pounds for that. An art gallery with a toddler…. I’ll probably pass on that one 😆

Anyway most of us here don’t actually need suggestions on how to entertain our own children 😂we know. We are just pointing out that the exceptionally wet few months we’ve had make it harder/more expensive/tedious/uncomfortable. For anyone on any kind of budget or living in a small space with no garden, prolonged wet weather can make things quite shit on occasion, yes, even if we have puddle suits and wellies.

You have my sympathy OP. Ignore all the jolly types with their comments about how wonderful a time you and your child can have out in the rain. I don't live in the UK and I can barely cope with more than two rainy days in a row - and that's without children. I have a friend in the UK who I hear from every couple of days, and it's been rare that she has had sunshine for more than one day at a time for months and months. I would have gone quite mad by now.

I can relate op and live in the good old north where it rains 80 % of the time lol, when my youngest was a bit older I made a to do jar ,he did go to nursery 9 til 12 though but after that we would pic something out of the jar just a folded bit of paper with a cheap activity on , whether that be go to charity shop and make an outfit for a fiver, always come in handy for world book day ect, or making seasonal stuff together, sometimes it was just a visit to the Cafe as he used to love egg and chips and a trifle, we also had allotments nearby with animals on so we would welly up and go for a walk. Hope that's helpful 😌 xxxx

It’s been so lovely and sunny here recently, 2 days of rain yesterday and today, then back to sunny again! We must be lucky here

This did make me laugh! 🤣🤣

Have you never seen a weather map?

Not sure where she is but we’ve had loads of sunshine recently down south! Raining for 2 days now then back to sunshine again tomorrow ☀️☀️

The puddle jumping thing does get a little wearisome. It might be fun for all of ten minutes but then there’s a lot of mud, washing, filthy cars (we would have to drive somewhere to puddle jump: the road we live on isn’t suitable at all) and it isn’t THAT much fun, is it?

We went to the park yesterday and I only have the baby today so am just doing some shopping later but tomorrow is forecast heavy rain so have booked soft play.

I'm going to buck the trend here because I HATE rain and everything about it. I hate being wet, even if its in waterproofs, I hate the cold, I hate that it gets all over my glasses and affects my vision, its just bloody miserable. My kids loathe it (7 & 8) and always have done - they would never play in the park when it was rainy because the equipment was wet, even in their puddle suits, they just hate it. I'm not even taking half term off because there's no point, its going to rain all week so i'll just work as usual (I work from home). We will bake, they can watch tv, play online with their friends, we can go to the library and swimming, cinema with our two free Sky tickets, go round to visit nanny etc. Its not ideal but what can you do?

It's raining here today (north west England) but before that it was dry for at least a week, so wherever you are, I'm sorry it's apparently been raining daily for weeks - I can completely see why that would be depressing.

Soft play?

Definitely see if any friends want to meet up or find a toddler group-even if you have to drive a bit further afield! Being with other people makes it more bearable for me.
Or a library or museum. Pets at home is always good to fill a bit of time.

Being with other people will save your sanity.
Trailing around in the rain with a toddler is miserable (though a good puddlesuit and wellies which keep the child dry will make a big difference).
It's not too cold at least so if you can get out and least you won't freeze your arse off.
Even an hour outside so your toddler can get some fresh air and exercise will make the rest of the day inside more tolerable.
If you can meet up with others it will lift your mood.

My sister used to go on days out to Ikea when her 3 girls were younger!

Shouldn't they be at school?

@Bringbackthebeaver

it is that bad. How could it be worse? It’s literally pissing it down

This made me laugh, we love a morning out at ikea! We go on a Friday as lunch is cheap, it’s quiet, and we role play pretending the rooms are parts of our house😂

the restaurant is so family friendly, usually a little drawing corner set up to. Meatballs and mash for £1.99. We love it!

@ItsSerious

it’s not been sunny where I live for days

and no I don’t want a day of rain in MAY, ffs

The child is 16 months old.

Even IF puddle jumping was this amazing activity and so much fun and fills several hours (it isn’t, it’s not, it doesn’t) it’s going to get boring as hell after months. And it really isn’t suitable for children younger than around 14 months unless they’re exceptionally advanced walkers.

If weather is that bad now, get him involved with you doing what's needed at home - getting a pot from the drawer, counting out the potatoes, washing the plates after breakfast, (and getting wet and messy so needs a shower and change is half the fun). Give the small brush and dustpan to sweep with you, Get him to pass the clean clothes to hang on the clotheshorse, or help match clean socks to pair up.

Give him some things to play with while you get on with something - even if that's a quiet coffee and 2 pages of your book.

Go out into the weather for 10 minutes - experience how it feels and the sounds etc. Then go back in for hot shower/bath and change if needed or just warm drink/snack after the adventure.

Look out at the weather and notice what the trees are doing or the animals.

Get DS to help make a sandwich for lunch - you butter the bread but he puts the fillings on.

It doesn't have to be 12 hours crawling on the floor with him.

These threads always attract the mad Pollyanna types that are raring to go out in a storm with a picnic basket and good intentions. I don't believe half the replies are from parents (I am not a parent myself but even I know that trying to entertain a 16 month old in pissing rain is hard).

I empathise - I had dd in the depths of a bad winter where it rained non stop for months and I had no car for the first 3 months. I needed to get out walking daily for my sanity.

Dd had good gear all her life and loved being out a lot. You learn to do it in short stints and be prepared to get dry/warm/fed when getting back in. But it helped use up energy so good naps happened. And she was interested in the world as a result.

She now spends a lot of time outdoors as a young adult - her summer job was all day out on the water last year (lots of rain), and she spent a lot of leisure time out in all weathers doing sport as well. And all winter as well, around school.

Wet raining days with my 2 they would put their wellies on rain coats and off we would go on a worm snail slug hunt not my idea of fun but they loved it picking up wet leaves and sticks.
As they got a bit older for some reason they had to play football in the rain.
I think it was to see how muddy they could get.
Walking in the woods climbing trees etc.
I dont think the rain really stopped us with anything.
Then again we all love the rain.
My youngest was working in it thismorning (bin man) and it was chucking it down dont bother either of them.

I feel the same. It’s fine saying ‘get waterproofs on and get outside’ and of course you can for a while- but it’s not the same at all as long lazy days in the garden or wandering round the park and having a picnic etc. And we only generally get a few months of that, so it’s rubbish it’s STILL so rainy in May. Fed up of it too.

Bloody Famous Five types off on endless jolly adventures with children joyfully counting snails, exclaiming how muddy they are because the rain is just SO MUCH FUN!! EVERY DAY! Of course we all live near the woods and lovely countryside or big gardens to stomp about in our wellies and not in dog shitty urban streets with little outside scope that isn’t a playground or a car park with a few pot holes filled with rainwater. Give me strength.