So so SO fed up and bored by home schooling and domesticity!!!

[pjsgalore]

I feel terrible saying this....obviously big love for my two DC, BUT...I'm sooooo sick of having them at home 24/7. Anyone else feeling completely over it?? I quite liked the break from the school run and the general rat race in the beginning, but now I feel utterly trapped by it - and ill at the thought the kids may not even go back in September!!! Pleaes tell me I'm not alone.

I try to count my blessings...(I actually have started saying them out loud in the morning like a mantra!! I have two healthy, happy children, I am grateful we have plentiful food, a nice house, we're not sick, we're okay for money etc etc etc. And I know there are so many people out there in an awful and scary situation...so I feel spoilt and selfish. BUTTTT.

I despise the home schooling thing - I find it a horrible mixture of tedious and stressful), I hate having zero time to myself EVER and the constant noise of my two DC (9 and 6) and the endless making of and cleaning up after food, and the always clean dishwasher.

I'm a freelance writer and am so lucky I've been able to not HAVE to work during this period - but I miss doing something with my brain so much. But if I try to take something on I then get super snappy with the children and feel guilty and stressed. So although I'm bored of the drudgery - I find the WFH thing impossible too!!! And I'm also in the middle of trying to write a book - but my creativity has gone awol and I have NO TIME. As my bottom heads for the chair it's like a homing signal for the children - MUM can we have a snack! Mum how do I do this sum, MUM MUM MUM MUM. ARRGHHHHHHH.

Please please someone moan with me!!!

I don’t think you are alone in this OP!

I do feel similar. Three primary aged kids but two have complex Sen. Plus trying to work and the house looks like a bomb has hit it. Husband locks himself into the office and works all day so is zero help and home schooling one kid takes all day.

Yes yes yes! Was going to start a similar thread myself. Off to work now which I hope will be a welcome break and DH has the joy of homeschooling for his one day a week he has to do. Will come back to this thread with my own moan .

I'm sick of it too. I HATE the home schooling thing with a fiery passion. I'm no substitute for a teacher and it's a nightmare trying to get DS to do anything, he just moans non stop. I'm furloughed so I don't have the added struggle of trying to WFH but then I feel like I've got no excuse not to be doing a great job with home schooling, keeping on top of the cleaning, doing lovely projects and baking. I'm just not.

It started out good at the beginning but now both DS and I are just sick of the whole thing and both having too much screen time.

Yes, love my dc but not home schooling them. Also not enjoying working from home. It's very much groundhog day every day.

Yes!!! Agree!!

sorry for your pain all - but virtual fist-bump - so nice to hear your equally sick-of-it voices!!

waxon zero projects going on here!!! In fact this week we're supposed to be doing a school science project on habitats - it makes me want to jump off the roof!!!! In fact that can be the science project - on the laws of motion!!!

Yep, it's so hard. I am only working 2 long days just now (17.5hrs p/w) but those 2 days are hellish and horrible as I'm snappy and stressed and constantly feel on edge and guilty about not giving enough (at all) at work and getting grumpy with my kids as they need support or help or just snacks and chat. I hate the other 3 school days a week too as we always feel behind or I worry that we are so busy with schoolwork we are not doing all the extras and resources available from museums and theatres and BBC and science centres online. I worry about my kids mental health all the time too.

I've got an Y7 who is missing her friends and fed up of working from home although she is trying and a Y5 who races through everything with minimum effort (if not watched like a hawk) and then dances off by 10.30am each day. We have had numerous meltdowns and I am so sick of everyone. I have a 3yo too who is missing her school nursery routine. I feel under pressure all the time, there is no down time. If I am not catching up with work, there's home schooling to check in on (different schools and stages), food shopping to do, washing to do, meals meals meals and fucking snacks and then daily exercise, music practice and cleaning the house. I am craving a few hours home alone with fuck all to do or out at work in my car just me and the radio. I feel guilty all the time and it never ever feels like I'm giving enough to anything.

I feel so sad for my kids but I also feel sad for me.

I am so angry and resentful at my husband as he's doing fuck all WFH (teacher, sorry, but he really isn't), no cleaning or organising and no supervising or management of schoolwork (despite being what he fucking does for a fucking living) and spends most of his time faffing about in the garden or pretending to work while really reading twitter. This is a separate issue really but adding to my feelings just now.

I am loving having my evenings back to myself as no running around to clubs and I have a small business too which I worked on in the evenings but isn't operational just now.

It's such an odd time as my Mummy guilt has ramped up x 100 (I usually feel guilty but this is another level). It is so stressful but I have enjoyed some precious time with my lovely DCs too and it is really lovely not to have so many outside pressures from family and friends and pressure to be doing fun things all weekend. We have enjoyed some really special times too.

Aaarrrggghhhh! You are not alone!

Totally agree I had this conversation with my 12 year old DD yesterday trying to motivate her was torture. We were discussing how we are fortunate all the things you described, she said but what is the point I can't see my friends, the school work is boring. (it is) how do you motivate??

I am right now putting of getting them up I hate the push to sit and do school work, my 10 year old ds is so much easier he moans but he does what I ask.

I am an NHS nurse so am at least glad that I can get out of the house to work but, I do resent not getting a day off.

That said, when I read about people juggling WFH calls or caring for DC's with additional needs, I give my head a wobble.

I have drawn a line and said NO to Virtual Sports Day this week (balancing a toilet roll on your head etc) - I've just no time for this shit.

Anything crafty is ignored. Completely. Instead I say they can read / mess around in garden / trampoline. They’re happy with that.

We are focussing only on maths and English (and 11 plus study for my son). That’s it. Hard focus but that’s it so more manageable.

They’re 10 and 7.

I have almost no patience. That’s my problem. Every night go to bed and think - tomorrow I WILL be better. And then I’m not!

They seem very happy though

Ugh even the word 'crafty' brings me out in hives!! I may have to follow suit with the just maths and english Juliet

I also am sorely lacking in the patience department...and I stupidly drank one of those Pimms cans - and then a bottle of wine last night because I was feeling so anarchic and sorry for myself - so now I've got hungover to add to my list of woes - and i'm going to have even less patience!! Aaarghhhh!!! Ommmmmm.

THANK YOU ALL for your responses. Feel better already.

And my DH is also pissing me right off "Rocking*!!! Have you read all the articles coming out about how this is reversing all the progress we've made around gender roles!! GRRRRR.

rocking rather!

Me too!! I’m a SAHM who was applying for jobs, youngest child starting school in September - my sights were firmly set on being out of the house, & now I’m pushed back into it with a vengeance. And I don’t have any of the time I used to have with pre school hours to get on with my own little projects. Nothing. DH works out of the house so it’s just me & 3 kids bickering from dawn to dusk.

With you there Justdontatme - I’ve been a SAHM for the last 10 years and was in the middle of applying for a course in September to retrain - now I can’t do it as DH on 80% hours/ salary which has wiped out funds to pay the course costs. Staring down the barrel of being home bound with 3DC for the foreseeable.

I hear you Justdon't - and so disappointing for you re: jobs!! Everything crossed this ends soon!!

Same here OP. I also enjoyed the slower pace of life at first but now I’m just so bored of it. I need to be alone. I feel totally and completely touched out and claustrophobic with the kids which I feel awful for even saying out loud. Home schooling is hard and the house is doing my head in. All I do I prepare then clean up food and clean up!

God I agree. I’m so bored of it now, and frustrated. I have no motivation to teach - my kids aren’t interested, they have lost their motivation.

Yes I feel the same, as does almost everyone I know in real life. I’m in NI, so we have no schools until at least September. My DS is 5, had just started P1 (same as reception) and had finally begun to settle in when all this shit kicked off. We do about 15-30 mins of school work a day, that’s all we can manage before there’s a row!

Then it’s just hours and hours and hours of time.

I also have a 3.5 year old and I’m 23 weeks pregnant so I’m not as agile as I usually might be, so trying to find a physical activity for them is an absolute pain. Everything lasts about 5 mins.

They want to paint and draw and cut up shit and fucking drag toys around ALL DAY LONG.

When they aren’t doing that they are eating.

The house is a mess, I’m sick of thinking about food, I want to go out but I’m worried about the baby. Gah it’s just all so annoying.

Plus I’m actually starting to worry about DS mentally. He seems to withdraw a lot these days, and gets very sad.

Agree, dc arent too bad with their school work it's just when they ask for help. I dont know what I'm doing. I'm sick of the same thing day in day out.
I would love to just have an hour to myself to tidy up and gather my thoughts.
I'm also feeling so guilty for letting youngest dc spend hours online but that's the only way he can speak to his friends.

I'm still enjoying it. We are lucky that I don't have to work so we don't have the added stress of trying to juggle work. I just tell myself that there are people going out there to deal with covid patients and the least I can do is keep my kids home and safe. It's not much in the grand scheme of things but it's my little battle and I'm winning it. My advice would be to get out. Whatever the weather. Have some outside activities everyday. Makes the working at the table easier and they concentrate more. I also ask mine (11 and 6) what they want to learn about then pull resources off twinkl. If they've chosen the topic they're a lot more likely to be interested!

iwantacookie my two are also spending A LOT of time on screens - PS4 mostly - but it's so good to hear them talking to their friends and it brings them so much joy! But yes - totally feel guilty about it too... SIGH.

DS age 6 has half term until Monday. I’ve had 1.5 weeks off with him as leave which has been lovely as stress free and the sun was shining.
I’m back to work today. Although DH is on leave tomorrow and Friday and I’m hoping the weather is ok so they can go out for long periods of the day. I cannot wait to be in the house alone (well with Ddog) and working without someone going ‘Mum, muuuuuum’ every 2 and a half minutes. It will be such a luxury!!

DS is pretty clingy and gets quite controlling about me lately, if we let him. He gets stressy if i go to the supermarket. He hates me being in the office and wants to play on the tablet in the room with me, understandably as he’s lonely.

I am dreading back to home schooling next week - I can feel my stress levels rising the closer it gets. DS has lost all motivation and at best will do a little work if I sit with him doing it and pester. He twiddles with things, doesn’t listen, fidgets - any avoidance tactics he can think of.
I get irritated because I need to work. He pesters to play on the iPad rather than do any work. I say no because he needs to do school work, but he resists massively. We both then end up grumpy and I still get fuck all work done and he’s not done any school work! 😩

And the prospect of this on repeat every day until summer holidays, as it is clear our school are resisting the return of pupils as much as possible, is utterly soul destroying!

Totally sick of it here too. 4 kids. 3 of whom home schooling. Still doing the curriculum. 2 of them hate home schooling and we have tantrums most days over it. School piling on the work.

I'm a vile mixture of extremely resentful, bored shitless and humongously anxious and stressed over it

Same here. I know I am very lucky in many ways but I am so BORED. I am never alone, never get to think my own thoughts for more than a few minutes at a time. Have to leave my preschool child with a tablet for hours as my ASD primary school child needs constant supervision to do any work. Even in August they will only be back part time, probably 2 days a week. I am really jealous of DH getting to sit in peace and use his brain for 8+ hours a day.