entertaining preschoolers

[crazydays]

morning wiseguys, is there anyone outthere who can advise me on how to structure my manic days we have a 4.5 year old 2 yr old and 8 month old boys i have stayed at home since having my first son and enjoyed it untill recently when my head just feels like cotton wool, therer dosnt seem to be enough hours in the day for everything ie housework,playgroups, nursery run,ME! life is so fustrating with all the scwabbling,reasoning,feeding ifeel my self snapping am i being unreasonable trying to have other interests.

Important to have time for your self it is not unreasonable it is survival.Even if you take your self out for ten minutes a day and paint your nails,read a book anything remember the things that you enjoyed doing before you had children.Have some girls nights out,have your hair done,and have candlelit baths things just for you where you will not get disturbed.You really need to do this to recharge your batteries.I promise you will start to feel better the other thing that I have learnt is to really get enough sleep that can make the world of difference I can cope much better with what the day throw's at me.Do this for yourself and don't make excuses YOU are important I know first hand how easy it is to get bogged down with it all.

Hi crazydays, 3 under 5 is hard work, everyone knows that! So it's not surprising your head feels like cotton wool. I only have one but that was hard enough when he was younger and I was a SAHM.

Do you have a partner and are they supportive? If so, I agree, try to make at least one evening a week to do something you want to do. Apart from that, won't your 4.5 yo be at school in September so that'll make a difference won't it? Does he/she go to playgroup? If so, then presumably the 2yo can also go once they're 3? My ds went 5 mornings from 3 yo onwards and it was lovely having 2 hours to myself. Most 3yos should be funded. I know you'd still have the little one but it would be a break of sorts. Do you have friends locally and could you have each others children (or 2 of yours) for a while sometimes to give you a break? That's all I can think of for now but I'm sure you'll get lots of good advice here.

Just read that back and realised my advice is mainly "see if you can get rid of your kids for a while" ! Sorry, you were asking about ideas for structure for your day, ummm, I don't really have any, except let the housework go for a bit, it isn't that important

whoopie....its good to know this is a normal process, yes i have an adorable husband that will go along with whats best for me, but do you know sometimes thats just not right either, my eldest does go to a nursery 3ams and 2 pms which in itself dosnt run smoothly with a 2yr old and 8month old in tow the babys routines and fairly hazy but being a mum of 3 you have to accomodate everyones needs. when do you catch up on housework im fairly houseproud and feel much better when things are organised but its not poss to keep on top of it all imagine all my washing !!!!at the weekend i think no knickers to it but its me who suffers next week for being behind and i resent the prospect of ironing etc at 8.00 onwards!! oh my god im sorry to go on you cant stop me know!!!

Message withdrawn

I know what I am about to say may cause controversy, but ... here goes.

Don't be afraid to use children's TV to help you organise your day.

My ds is having a difficult time at the moment as I am recently post-op (a hip thing) so fairly immobile, and husband is trying to continue earning an honest living, from home as much as possible.

We have identified which tv programs ds likes best (we steer him towards good stuff, he has never seen stuff like Power Rangers yet) and we are building our days at the moment around the TV schedule, fitting in other activities around it.

so at the moment ds sits in bed with me reading first thing in the morning, while dh makes our cup of tea. then, after we've all had a play in bed (under the duvet is our submarine), ds watches tikkabilla while dh helps me get dressed, and we get brekky ready.

After Brekky, dh tries to work, while I play with playdoh or scrapbook sticking or something, and try to persuade ds to dress himself. At 11:00 ds settles down to watch Balamory, fireman Sam and Bob The Builder. this gives three quarters of an hour to get on with something useful (currently me supervising dh sorting out a load for the washing machine, trying to empty the dishwasher myself - takes ages when you can only place 1 plate at a time in the cupboard)

Then we do whatever games I can manage, counting, building stuff with bricks, etc. until dh makes some lunch. then he takes ds to the park or play centre, so I can have a nap, or check out mumsnet or some such.

Some days there is something good on at 3:15, or I might have taped Numbertime or magic key for him to watch. otherwise we play and do things together until 6:00pm, when ds settles in for a session with the TV, which calms him down for bathtime.

It doesn't always go smoothly, but using the TV helps to strucgture the day.

I was going to suggest the tv or a video for some you time, finding one they all like may be a problem though, maybe surround the baby with some pillows and some toys while the older ones are watching. I also sit my kids at the kitchen table with paper and pens to keep them sitting while i run round tidying any other rooms they have just trashed!
Dont go to so many things if your spending all your time organising yourself to go to them...wishing you luck!
Oh and, if you can make the packed lunches for the next day while waiting for dinner to cook, get the clothes for the next day at the same time as the jim-jams it makes me feel im on top of things! HTH