Does anyone else find motherhood boring?

[boredofthis]

know this is a bit taboo to say but I basically find motherhood really boring. My dd is 3 and a half months old and I do love her but on the whole I find the business of being a mother really tedious. I don't find myself staring at her in awe, I don't think the whole circle of life thing truly amaaazing and before anyone says anything I'm not in the slightest bit depressed. Am I really alone in finding it all extremely tedious with little reward? I'd be really interested to hear from any long term mothers about when they started to find it interesting

It does have its moments of tedium, but it does get better - as they get older and start to do more.

boredofthis - I think you will probably find things improve as your DD gets older and interacts with you more, and when she can play on her own more too.

Oh it really does get more interactive and interesting. Once the novelty wears off they are quite dull for a few weeks, and then at 4-5 months they start to get more engaging and interested in YOU, and let's face it we all like a two way street when it comes to attention.

I have 2, DS1 2.9 and DS2 4 months who has now got a definable personality and is no longer just a wee and milk bag, IYKWIM

Is there any chance of you going back to work, PT or otherwise? I understand that we are not all the same as women let alone mothers and some of us want more adult interaction.

HTH,

you need to use the time to cultivate reatil habits and coffee drinking expertise - usually with other MUms

And you always have us

boredoifthis - I find babies really dull too. They do get more interesting. With my son, as I recall, I found the first 6 months unrelentingly tedious and just hard slog. After that it was OK - not fun precisely, but relatively OK. By the time he reached 2 I discovered that I actually was rather enjoying it - and he keeps getting better (he is 6 now!). But babies don't do much and are not so very rewarding (in my opinion, anyway).

I hated pregnancy and the first 6 months and always said I'd only have another if someone could give me a 6 month old.
it will get better once you are able to share things and that will come in the next couple of months.

Oh God YES. Despite falling blissfully in love with dd the moment I saw her, by 12 weeks I was soooo bored. She was sleeping beautifully by then, we'd got a wonderful routine worked out but I just wasn't enjoying it. So I went back to work.
Then when dd got to 12 months I suddenly realised how interesting she was, and now she's 20 months I can't wait until I go on maternity leave and get to spend all day with this fascinating little creature. It will get better honestly. Can you go out to work to give yourself some mental stimulation - it really did save my sanity.

At last I know I'm not the only one...! Boring and all consuming as you simply don't have time to do anything else! Unless you are one of those women who take great pleasure in nursing a baby, my sil did, then they don't offer much do they? And mummysurfer, were you in my kitchen last Saturday? 'cos I said the exact same thing to a friend who was on about me having another one!
Having said that, boredofthis, is does get better (I know that doubtless sounds like a platitude - and you have probably heard it a dozen times in relation to other aspects of babies, but its true.) Mine is now 8 months and things are different. In fact I was going throu' the baby photos from when he was born to now and got quite choked at how small he was, and how different he is now....
Good on you for saying what I felt was unsayable! Everyone expects you to be so fulfilled and you just want to scream 'get me out of this'!

Don't beat yourself up about this. If everyone is being honest we all find bit of parenting boring. Very tine babys are so cute, but that is about it re feedback! And they do get more interesting. But even if you find the toddler bit dull, you might find that you are a 100% interested mum (or near to being) wheb they start school. Or you could be the ultimate mum to teenagers.

I've had lots of different jobs, and have been a SAHM. All of tem can be boring on times. That is just life

Oh yes, find myself wishing I could have my maternity leave in a year or 2, not now with 2m old!
DS1 is 14 - and has been v interesting to be around last few years, his age is the most interesting yet

boredofthis, I didn't really enjoy my ds until he was one year old. I think it only starts to improve when they start responding to you and interacting with you. Now that my son is 3 1/2, he hugs me, tells me he loves me and shows a lot of interest in a multitude of different things.

Personally I wouldn't like to go through the whole 'baby' thing again!! I think it's very normal to feel what you're feeling.

Very very very boring. If I were to write the definitive parenting book it would have two pages.

page 1: babies are very very boring and you won't be rushing about having the busiest time of your life like everyone says, you'll be sitting doing nothing, a lot.

page 2: mashed banana looks like spinach when it comes out the other end, and it stains everything.

There was no other knowledge that I needed before becoming a parent, yet no-one saw fit to impart either piece of information to me!

Yep, right at the beginning they're booooooooooooooooring.

Actually quite a lot of the later bits aren't too fascinating either (no, darling, I don't want to be Kipper the Dog, really I don't, please can I read the paper;o) but I do agree that the more they emerge as people the more rewarding they are. Dd2 has turned what for me is the 'magic corner' of 6 months and wow is she different. Hang on in there, babe. Good luck.

You're lucky motherinferior. For me the "magic corner" is not 6 mos but maybe 15mos, and then another at 18 mos, and then things are never-ending fun when they are 2.5 yrs onwards (minus the tantrums). I find that having a second child, as I do, drags you back into the boredom, because the needs of the younger child tend to trump the fun things about having an older child.

so no, boredofthis, you're not alone!

LOL, Fisil.
Tiny babies are very dull (agree). Standing around in freezing playgrounds for hours or catching your cherished toddler the 26th time he jumps off a wall is mind-numbing. Never mind when the 4yo asks 'Why'd he do that?' to everything 4yo sees in a movie....This is why I can't do motherhood full time, and why I admire women who do!

NO, not boring at all!! However, I've noticed that I seem to be able to adapt to whatever my situation is rather easily and wonder if I'm fickle? Working? Loved it. Not working, no kids and no prospect? Loved it. First baby? Loved it. Second baby. Loving it so far. I do have someone in to look after baby a couple of afternoons a week though and I've got lots of other things going on, especially with my 8yr old ASD son..... A break seems to be the key thing, a husband who shares the experience as much as possible and "friends" or acquaintances you can do baby stuff with but without having to become "best" friends otherwise.

Boredofthis - YES - it is very boring being at home with a small baby. When DD was born I was bored and could not wait to get back to work. Now she is 4 and is a delight and I really enjoy her company. DS is 7 weeks and I am at home again - thought I would appreciate it more with number 2 but I still find it all a bit of a drag. I know we are not supposed to admit to these feelings....! With dd I really started to enjoy her from about 5-6 months - hang in there it gets better!

I think its alot more interesting when you have two.
I would always recommend having children close together for this reason.

Thanks everybody for your messages. I'm so glad to know I'm not alone. Might try and do a bit of work soon although in a way the boredom of this beats the pressure of that in some ways. At least I don't wake up with the 'fear' - what if I fuck this up today? (Do high pressure, high profie job) Had a lovely day today as three sets of friends came to visit me and dd gurgled and slept on my lap for most of it. By the end of it I expected dd to not sleep as I hadn't stimulated her down on the playmat but she went down better than normal. Perhaps I've been overstimulating her and boring the pants off myself in the meantime! New strategy - lunches, coffees and favourite tv programmes!!

Rats! You've stolen my strategy! Tea, TCM, Heat, MN, email and internet in general all feature heavily on my baby care essentials.

Message withdrawn

No, I should say boring is not the word for me. Stressful sometimes, repetitive, irritating but not boring.

But then I do work. When I was on mat leave maybe I did find it boring but I can't remember!
I think when v small babies are pretty dull really.

The first six months were great. I could go anywhere and do anything I wanted - I just had to take a baby along. Once he started sleeping properly in his cot I got more tied to the house and more a slave to his routine. On days when this bothers me I remind myself that I used to find work pretty uninteresting on quiet days too. I'm so glad that I went out those first few months or I would be crawling the walls by now.