School holidays are imminent *pauses to breathe deeply* and I am getting more and more anxious as each day passes and the time comes when "I'm bored" and "I'm hungry" get stuck on repeat. I know I have been guilty recently of being a bit of a lazy parent, lacking in the 'entertaining the kids' department and probably relying on their self motivation and the digital babysitter a bit too much.
Through self counselling (read: giving myself a good talking to) I have recognised that I am a bored Mother. There. I've said it. I've lost my mummy mojo. Not quite sure where I left it but have so far searched the immediate area of the under stairs cupboard where most lost things turn up and the kitchen messy drawer without even a sniff. I thought I would look online and found some great
I have decided on a two pronged attack. The first is to have a list of things to do with the kids (who are 6, 3 and 18 months) and then (assuming that they are suitably entertained and not screaming at each other or at me) find a bit of quality time for myself to work out why I am bored and what I can do about it.
So, stage 1: The list (because I do like a good list) of 'things to do' that can be called upon to fill the looming days ahead (all 42 of them *gulp*).
- Make an "I'm Bored" jar
- Paint paperweight stones
- Declutter toys
- Do a car boot sale selling of the decluttered toys
- Visit Burghley Water Gardens and Sculpture Park
- Visit Belton House Gardens
- Learn to ride scooters and balance bikes
- Go cycling at Rutland Water
- Refashion a T-shirt
- Read The Twits
- Go to see Cars 2
- Make a playlist for rainy afternoon ipod discos
- Camp in the garden
- Go to the outside pool at Tallington
- Go sledging at Tallington
- Go rock climbing at Tallington
- Make a scrapbook of the holidays
- Make a shell-stone-seaweed picture on the beach
- Play crazy golf
- Catch crabs
- Make a puppet
- Bake cakes
- Visit the Lincolnshire Home and Antiques Fair
- Make a junk robot
- Make multi-coloured popcorn
- Foot & hand painting
- Collect flowers to press and make bookmarks for Grandparents
- Go bug spotting
- Go fishing
- Make glitter jelly
- Make a theatre
- Put on a show
- Refurbish a bookcase for the boys
- Refurbish a wardrobe for the Princess
- Make a shoe tidy for the hall
- Sort old photographs into albums
- Watch the Railway Children
- Go to a museum
- Make a cut out comic book
- Go boating on Rutland Water
- Make garden decorations & wind chimes
- Blow the biggest bubble ever
I intend to do a little photo log of the school holidays by taking a picture a day of what we have done to amuse ourselves (family friendly of course for anyone sniggering at the back) and posting these once a week.
As for the second part of my two-pronged attack, well, I hope part one will force me into a bit of action and fend off some of the boredom but I will absolutely try to get some time off to work it all out.
Come back for regular progress reports.
What a GREAT list!
ReplyDeleteWell done for recognising the problem and having the guts to do something about it! You will find that there are many other Mums who will recognise where you are and offer friendship and support.
I look forward to following your progress... GOOD LUCK!
Thanks for your comments.
ReplyDeleteActuallyMummy, you are so right about the toys. This will have to be cunningly disguised as a 'sell you old stuff and make money to buy something new' activity. I can only hope!
Tartankiwi, all support is gratefully received and I am fortunate that I do have some lovely friends who 'know' where I'm at!
x
Great idea, and one I might have to do myself too. A list is a good thing to come up with. I suffer from boredom as well, it's just really hard to be motivated some days! I may bob back to visit your list some day very soon, lots of inspiration there! *passes gold star*
ReplyDeleteGreat idea to have a to do list - you are one step ahead of me. We call this our summer holiday box - we write out suggestions on slips of paper and put them in and pull them out to decide what we are going to do. My son is refusing to do this until we have used up all the tissues in the tissue box. It just has to be done using the tissue box and my suggestion of using an old cat food box has been poo pooed. At this stage am thinking it's going to be a looooong summer.
ReplyDeleteFab List...looks like so much fun!
ReplyDeleteI can relate to you feeling like a bored mummy. I went through a phase of feeling like that when my lot were little. the key is to always have things to look forward to and some time out from being a Mum, like the odd night out with friends or even just a night in to pamper yourself totally mummy free.
Now I wish I was back there being a young Mum with all my kids small again...They are such precious years that fly by so fast x