Make me a fun mum

[AmericasTorturedBrow]

Ok I am dissatisfied with my lot, very rated up for healthy DC and life blah blah blah but hate that I can't currently work, starting to feel resentment and regret at having DC young and now no career to speak of. Wrote a post about it and got lots I lovely advice including one person saying I should try turning it around and enjoy my time with my DC now before I can start working again.

So....I have a 5yoDS and 2yo DD, and need a go to source of fun quick activities to do with them. Our week is slightly complicated due to who's in nursery when: Mon just DD, Tues just DS (but filled with activities and we bake and swim and stuff together, it's lush), Weds neither of them (whoop), Thurs just DD, Fri both of them

We live in California so we are outdoors a lot, go to the beach and the park but it's very easy for me to just sit there and read/MN/chat rather than interact with them. They're both great at independant play cos I fostered it and generally get on with each other. We cook and colour so looking for other cheap and cheerful activities I can do with them at home or in the garden that take up 10-30mins at a time so I can alleviate guilt and go back to my book

Any pro tips from DC loving SAHM??

For Mondays and Thursdays, when you just have DD, here are the things that give me a bit of peace with my 2 year old:

-Put her in highchair and give her paints while you cook, read, or MN . DD gets really crabby if she's not on my height level and can't see what I'm doing. If she's painting in her highchair, I get to put on a pot of sauce and MN, read or make notes in between stirs and making encouraging noises.

• Buy loads of sheets of cheapo stickers and produce them at times DD really needs to be diverted. Let her peel them off and stick them onto things (again you can read while she's doing this). Got this tip from a mumsnetter and have been grateful ever since. You can tell yourself it's good for her motor development.

I get really bored too with the constant entertaining thing, I'm very introverted and just not that much fun! And actually I don't think that it's necessary to be super-fun all the time. I don't think it's the end of the world if you're reading/MNing a little bit while around them. I'm from a big family and I remember my parents been engrossed in newspapers the whole time and us whinging at them...eventually we'd get bored and find something to do.

I do like reading with DD and supervising jigsaws and am wiling to do both, but endless rounds of pinterest-style arts and crafts -- just couldn't be bothered.

*being engrossed

Thanks - DD point blank refuses her highchair now though! I also don't think it's a bad thing for them to find their own stuff to do while I crack on with mine, I just feel sometimes I ought to engage with them more than I currently do