SAHMS help please... how do you keep your kids entertained all day and keep your sanity???

[MrsBojangles]

As of tomorrow I'm officially a sahm and partially dreading it because how am I going to keep the lo's entertained without going insane and get housework etc. done?

Tomorrow I'll only have ds (2.2) so it's going to be 'easy', drop dd (5 in a few days) at school, drag him to the park and run him ragged and hope he falls asleep on way back .

Once school is out I'm a bit stuck though as I can only do so much 'going to the park' iykwim and obviously they have totally different interests being of different ages.

Any suggestions, typical days etc highly appreciated

I only have a 20 mth old
I don't do entertainment. Instead we do breakfast, go shopping, come home, have cuppa and read paper while he plays
Then we have lunch, then he naps. Do laundry/chores etc. He gets up, bit of Cbeebies, dinner, bath, bed

Some days we do something eg park/swim/meet a mate for coffee

dont really entertain. i do play/read etc but...not excessively

seriously, they need to learn to entertain themselves imo. and that means, sometimes, being bored.

i think keep tv off and try to get out by a set time each day. imo kids need a good 30 minute walk otherwise they go whingy. and be sure to schedule mummy-and-tea time, each day after lunch, say. and you need to clean so dont feel guilty.

DS at school, he is 7, then me and DD , who is 16 months have a plan every day...

Mon & Tues - DH off work, so we go to the supermarket or do errands all together,,,then lunch, sleep , then school run, plays with her brother, then tea, bath, play and bed

Wed, Thurs, Fri - school run, then either a mum & baby group , or meeting friends or park or shops or somehting !! then home , lunch,sleep , school run etc..

weekends,...see family, see freinds etx

i try and have something to do every day with DD , even if it is going to the pet shop, she likes to look at all the animals and that kills a good 30 minutes....!!

sitting her on the kitchen flooor with a selection of spoons , bowls and things to play with while i cook & tidy

she will quite happily potter from room to room with me while i tidy, especially if i sing and talk to her..

as Filly says, sometimes, they need to entertain themselves and be bored..if i need a cuppa and some time on mumsnet.. i make sure i have it !

(oh i didn't mean NO tv btw. we don;t really have one but no harm in cbebbies, i hear. just probably easier on you if its not on all day.

I feel very strongkly about importance of mummy-chill time and think a video or whatever a perfectly acceptable way to achieve this)

2.9 yr old (not yet at Pre School but starting in January) and a 4 yr old at Reception.

A typical day - take a Monday:

Children up and breakfast (and play together) from around 6.30 - 7.45.

7.45 - 9.00: get dressed and ready for school, school drop off and then return home

9.00 - 10.00: 2.9 yr old watches tv (for an hour, I know )in the custody of my cleaner who is there on Monday mornings, whilst I walk the dogs without hassles of a pre schooler in tow.

10.00 - 12.00: we always go into the nearest town to visit the library, have a coffee (he has orange juice and a tea cake!)and perhaps pop into one shop or another briefly to get something I have run out of...

12.00 - 12.45: lunch (he takes ages over a sandwich)

12.45 - 13.45 ish - he plays on own with minimal input from me ( I might start him off with a play 'concept' and then he carries on)

13.45 - 14.30 : I might do some painting / colouring / arts and crafts with him...or a jigsaw or two.

14.30 - 15.00 : another half hour of kids tv

15.00 - 15.45: leave to collect dd from school and then return

15.45 - 16.30: dd and ds play together (quite willingly, because they haven't seen each other all day)

16.30 - 17.00: half hour of tv whilst I prepare dinner

17.00 - 17.45: tea time

17.45 - 18.15: free play

18.15: bath time followed by bed

That sounds quite mundane and I guess it is a little. It has made me realise how well they play on their own for quite a proportion of the day; they have become used to benign neglect and making their own entertainment..

On other days we might meet up with friends who also have children - either around each others houses, at soft play or with a in the woods to walk our dogs and our children!

I also bung 2.9 year old in creche for 1.5 hours twice per week whilst I use the gym

Lol - you mean you are tempted to put in instead?

Well most of the time it is peaceful. There is the odd crappy day when they are the children from whinge city of course, and the domestic drudgery can get me down sometimes..as can the mundanity.

But generally, it is more than okay

Books, books and more books. With both my children I have found that, although I will do it for a short time, imaginary play/building things etc is not my forte or something I overly enjoy! However, I have found reading with them to be the most utterly wonderful indispensible activity to do together. Some days we read books for over three hours - depending on their mood, sometimes when they are tired this is a fairly passive thing, or when they are more alert/playful it is a very interactive thing and sparks off lots of discussions and they seem to learn a lot from it. I do sometimes wonder what kind of mummy I would be without our massive library of books...but then try not to feel too guilty that I rely quite heavily on them as they would watch a lot of television if we didn't read! .

My only other suggestion is to get them to help you do the housework. My ds loves to help put the laundry from the basket into the washing machine etc.

Oh and the other thing is find a good toddler group - these can be wonderful if you are feeling a bit isolated, particularly in the winter.

Can imagine you must be feeling quite overwhelmed by suddenly being at home with them all day - I try to remind myself that if I am feeling bored/like a poor-quality entertainer, that there are a million other sahm's feeling exactly the same as me...and that some days that's just part of it , but the days when I don't feel like that about it make staying home with them worthwhile.

Wow thanks all for your replies so far Was tied up with ds, he's got the puking bug which dd kindly passed on to him.

Not dreading so much just being with him because he plays very well on his own provided he has a couple of trains or buckets to tip stuff out off .

DD is a bit more challenging as she loves to do arts & crafts and I haven't done it in such a long time. I even have books of how to make things, problem there... ds wants to also 'help' which usually ends in disaster...

I am guilty of letting my 2 watch way too much tv, but whilst I was working it was the only way to get stuff done at the weekends. Also that way dd now speaks a little spanish thanks to Dora the Explorer and Diego

Try get out at least once a day for an hour too, it makes all the difference between speaking to no-one all day and having a little chat at shops/school run etc.

defo going out at least once a day otherwise they'd drive me up the wall.

DS was very demanding yesterday guessing he's very used to having lots of little friends and various carers at his beg and call . He wasn't all that impressed with the fact that mama didn't roll around the floor with him 8hours non stop LOL

He was VERY keen to go to nursery today

Try not to get bogged down in the finished product re arts and crafts, just give them the stuff, a suggested aim and let them run with it. Your job is to hoover and stick things up on display. Try some bogroll tube / cotton wool snowmen a la Greensleeves. But we do more baking in general as she glues and paints all day at pre-school. Why not make lots and lots of cinnamony cookies aka 'Christmas cookies' and box them up so you have emergency presents?
I do basic housework (laundry, dishwasher etc)in the mornings after breakfast while mine play (they are 3 and nearly 2.) I hang washing out at lunchtime so it's got all day to dry.
I try and get out of the house some time after lunch weather permitting, ds will have his nap in the pushchair and I find I am more tired if I don't leave the house all day. Just walk around the block, count Xmas lights, window shop etc. We are about a mile from our library which is always good as the little one can stretch his legs if he wakes up.
I would also join your school PTA if you haven't already, lots of social opportunities there and fundraising helps keep your brain working.

I have a 3.2yr old, 12mth old and due no.3 so at the min plan tends to be
mon,tues and thurs ds playgroup so time with DD.
Pick up have lunch then in afternoon DD will sleep and will do something with DS like drawing or stories etc.
Wed tend to go out to park or something in morning. For some reason they both will have a sleep on wed afternoon..as will I..lol
fri toddler group then home, lunch and will play with toys etc.

There is also prob an hour or so a day tv time in there where I snooze on couch and they watch tv/play around me..lol

thanks for all your input, shall try and devise battle plan that doesn't involve so much TV ;) though I'm down with a virus at the moment so TV rnning a lot

Forgot to say mine usually have the tv on loads but it's CBeebies so at least it's quality shows and no advertising for ghastly toys! Still no excuse but I do like a bit of peace and quiet to play on Mumsnet .

Message withdrawn

telly

Our tv is on way too much too.

DS is watching Babe just now.

He also has all his cars out and his garage and just goes between the two, he can't really watch a full film yet but he ask for BADE on ... When I am on here he comes and sits with me sometimes too. He likes the and the orange adverts too.

DS2 also likes to watch it after school. I turn it off/over around 4ish and they go and play (fight) in their room.

I too dreaded the mess of arty crafty stuff - but there is stuff you can do that they love which doesn't involve much mess. Cut out loads of little pics of their fave characters from Thomas or Dora magazines (sit with them and let them "help" you can get those safe scissors they can use) and then just give them a pritt stick and they can make their own works of art! Simple, cheap as chips and minimal mess.... {fsmile]

and of course

MrsBojangles can I ask why you have become a SAHM. not sure if you are having a new baby or just decided to be at home with your children. The reason I ask is I have a 2.2 ds and I am considering giving up work. I am also ttc baby no2 but am seriously thinking about handing my notice in before I am pg. When I talk to friends about this they think I am mad and I get comments like your son is nearly at nursery why give up work now. I am not particularly happy in my job and when I think about leaving my son at nursery to go to an office where I don't want to be it makes me sad. I have wondered what it would be like to be at home with him all week (I work 3 days at the moment) but I think I would like to try it and if it isn't for me I could always get another p/t job