How do you keep SANE being a SAHM????

[twincrazy]

Well I should be quite used to it by now, you would think?!

My part time job working from home has left me totally bored and dented.

I have a big age gap twins are almost 14 and the little one is almost 3

I do make plans to meet friends etc..but I AM SOOOOOOOO BORED!!!!!!!

I know at the moment lo is poorly so have been stuck in since sunday, but anyway still I FEEL SOOOOO BORED..

How do you all make your days brighter???

When I was a sahm I found the trick was to organise as much as possible and get out of the house everyday even it it's just to the postbox
Even with a snuffly child the fresh air will help
I'd still go out
Go to sainsburys and have coffee in the cafe and a fry up

difficult in winter. I quite liked being home when mine was small but I am glad I am not a SAHM anymore. It did me good to get back out in the workforce. I suppose if you are at home, you need to convince yourself that what you do is creative and enjoyable - and then perhaps it becomes a bit more so. When dc are sick, it is always harder, isn't it?

let me know when you find out :)

House work done first thing then go out.

Put DC in childcare couple of mornings a week.

Book in to see your friends at the weekend, treat it like a work appointment, so a priority.

Put all the toys away before bathtime so you can just sit down after.

I try to get the drudgery done while the baby is awake so she 'helps' and I am not rushing round in her nap and can do nice things.

I think I need to get another job - but finding a part time job! now that will be interesting!

I feel like a have no purpose, suppose it doesnt help with DH comment about how hard his day was yesterday, and mine was easy looking after a poorly little girl.

Mon, Wed, Thu she is at preschool. Tuesday she is with my mum while I work, and Friday we go swimming. In between I will meet up with friends with kids the same age. But still find that boring

I think its because I have such a big age gap and down it so many years ago. Maybe who knows!

I don't think I am sane :)

I am lucky where I live that there is lots to do at our local centre. Courses, and Zumba and toddler groups so if I wanted to I could do something every day. But I actually enjoy being in the house as well, I do the housework with my little one which takes a lot of time but can be fun. I like to crochet and read while little one is out for 2 hours at playgroup. And virgin plus is my best friend.

Baking with children, painting, making things, dancing as ridiculously as you like as only a small child can see, building megabloks castles then playing out stories with dolls, mn, that sort of thing.

stuffthenonense - we do all that kind of thing, concentration span at the age of 3 is very limited

Mumsnet . Getting some time to myself too. Can you put 3yo in playgroup for a couple of mornings a week. My 3yo twins got into school Nursery - yipperdee-doo-dah! I have every morning to DO stuff now. I am dying my hair this very minute.

When Dds were babies/toddlers just looking after them was a job but now they are 12 and 10 things are very different!

I still love being a SAHM though. I volunteer at a charity during term time one afternoon a week. I fill my time with housework, laundry,cooking and walking the dog. I go to classes at the gym 3 times a week. I meet up with friends for lunch or coffee a couple of times a month. I belong to a reading group that meets every 6 weeks. I used to help out at DDs school but now I do extra volunteering for the charity if I have time.

I always seem to have errands to do, shopping for the home (or for pleasure!) things to order or pick up. Plumbers/electricians to find and organise. My friends often comment on how tidy my home is or how well organised I am but that is my job and I treat it that way. I do it with pleasure and pride.

Could you train in something? That way you'll have something to focus on when they fly the nest too?

I'm probably not the right person to ask - currently planning my escape from the corporate world and in to the home. My advice would be, appreciate what you have, I long to be bored...

Having friends looking for FT work it seems that the only jobs out there are part time. I think companies want to reduce sick pay etc. so reduce contracted hours and then get people to work 'overtime'.

Does the 3YO get her 15 hours when you are at work? Otherwise try to use some of that for your stuff.

There is no need for your DH to be being a dick about it :( Stop doing things with people so that your Dcs are occupied. You need to pen in some time hanging out with the 'cool kids' doing things you want to do. Go to a gig or something. I try to book on e night off a month for me and DH so we can go out by ourselves and I have something to look forward to.

You aren't doing anything you want to do, from the sound of it?

Strong medication and time to myself and even then it's a balancing act sometimes!

Nagoo you have made me chuggle

So do you mean I have more chance to get a part time job then? I have noooo idea where to start, jobcentre seems very dates, monster job seems like you need a degree!

I always feel guilty if I do something for myself, always! I even feel guilty if I go swimming in the evening incase World War III has broken out with the lads or something - mad isnt it!

Bored of the mum talk - of what their child is up to, sleep patterns, eating..etc I know my friends dont mean any harm but I just feel like Id rather be on my own

My DH seems to think I have no purpose, its amazing who cleans, cooks, shops, and does the ironing some wizard comes in at night I think-grrrrr (anti men)

oh forgot to say 2yo doesnt get funded until September. So we may for 3 mornings.

Where are these toddler groups/mums that all they talk about is their kids? All they talk about at mine is tv and sex! :)

I rarely get bored. I get school run for DD out of way come home and tidy up the morning carnage, have my breakfast reading paper, play or read to DS put him down for nap about 11 then I clear up any washing put clothes away etc. followed by an hour on the sofa with my laptop. My DD finishes school after 1 and we all have lunch play out the back or at the park. I also go to mums and tots and go to friends for coffee...It sounds like such a simple wee life but me and the kids love it. I will continue studies or work part time when they are older I honestly have no desire to work at the minute but im sure this will change. Enjoy every minute but make sure you are doing things you want to do-if not make changes.

I love being a sahm

school run for eldest then home with toddler for a big mug of coffee and some stories. Then housework/chores while dd helps or entertains herself. She has a toddler group one morning a week and we meet friends at least one day. Other times are taken up with baking, art and crafts etc.

She still naps for an hour before picking brother up from school and that is my time. I read or write as I love literature. After school is busy until dh gets home. As long as you are organised, inventive and fun it does not have to be boring.

I hate the presumption that my brain must be rotting by some. Last year I vowed to fulfill an ambition and read War&Peace. I did and thoroughly enjoyed it!

Some days I feel like I'm going to go off my head it's really hard, others are easier. DH does the nursery run with DS1 in the morning, so I get DS2 down for a nap about 9am and then have time to mumsnet to do housework etc. Then it's lunch time. I always plan something for the afternoon - even just a walk to the shop or park - so DS2 gets another nap and we get some fresh air and exercise. We mix this up with visits to friends and softplay.

I don't know what the hell I'd do without my mum though. She's such a help. And I agree, pencil in time for yourself and plan definite activities, even if it's only a stroll round the shops or coffee with a friend. I find I don't have to be away from the chaos on my own for long, and it still recharges my batteries and helps me cope.

I'm a SAHM because of redundancy, I expected to be back at work by now. It still all feels like some strange step out of reality for me :o

It's easy now ds is at school - but when he was a toddler.......... What kept me sane was having some sort of organised activity every day, so we would get out of the house and see people. When he was 3, he had a couple of sessions a week at playgroup (I would get housework done then), we would go to swimming lesson, Tumbletots, music club, and the other mornings /afternoons sometimes just go to the shops (to buy necessary food, but ds loved going in the greengrocers etc) or to the park if weather good or play in garden etc.

I also sent him to a childminder for one morning a week, just so that I had a small amount of time to myself (started this when he was 18 months, before he was eligible for playgroup). I don't have any family near who could help at all.

And lastly, I went out one evening a week (to a band I played in before ds was born) from when he was 4 weeks old, so that I had one thing in the week which involved adult company and had nothing to do with babies/children.

I thought I was going nuts being a SAHM. The whole mummy/kiddy scene just wasn't for me, I hated it (not the individuals, who were lovely, but I couldn't get into the lifestyle). I did loads of things just to get us out of the house, and I had one good friend, which made it better. Things really only got better when I got a part-time job. Looking back, I wonder whether I had a mild dose of PND.

Have you thought of doing an evening course or a correspondance for mental stimulus. It might open up job avenues for you in the future.

Cbeebies and Mumsnet, mainly...

You're just bored, bored, whatever we suggest you will be bored anyway. You find SAH-parenting boring, some people don't, it's up to you, but I think you should find another job.

I like the company of my children a lot. If my husband would agree to it, I would home-school my two kids in a flash. I like reading my books and doing my things and I don't mind being on my own. I am learning a fourth language. It is the only time in my adult life that I am leading a stress-free life, I don't have deadlines, I don't have Friday afternoon meetings, I don't have rush hour stuck on the underground smelling some man's armpit, I don't look at my phone thinking 'who is calling me now and what does he want', I don't stress out over some stupid presentation.

I don't find staying at home with my kids boring, not at all - I enjoy it a lot and it is up to you what you make of it.

Pah! Staying sane as a SAHM - impossible!

I now work part time but can still find it hard in the holidays etc.

I always plan to something every day - staying in all day with 2 young children is my idea of hell.

In my mind when I left work to be a SAHM I thought I was going to be like BlueberryPancake but very little ever works out how you think it will.

Definitely, definitely try and find a part time job that fits in with everything and then you'll have the joys of adult chat/company to look forward to, you'll bring a bit of cash into the house and be a less stressed/more interested mum for your DCs.

Good Luck and please don't feel guilty about feeling bored - IMO its the part of motherhood they don't tell you about.