Ok that title might sound dramatic but I reallllly am on the brink of insanity right now. Ok so my DS (3) has suddenly developed this annoying habit of constantly asking me what he can do. His little sister is just a year, so she's not much fun to play with right now. He would spend forever on the computer if I let him but I REALLY don't want him doing that. He's got toys to play with, books to look at, movies to watch.. Yet he constantly seems bored & is always whining about there's nothing to do. I REALLY don't know what to do. I honestly feel really guilty about it, thinking "well if I had him in preschool, instead of homeschooling, he wouldn't be so bored right now" . Toward the end of the day i really really really lose my patience and it affects me in a big way. I feel like a crappy mom. Maybe that's just what comes with being a stay at home mom... I go nuts in this house. We don't have a 2nd vehicle so it's us here, all day long. In fact, just looking at the clock & seeing that it was only noon made me want to cry. Literally. Some days I end up in tears. From boredom, lonelyness, etc. I love everything about beign a stay at home mom... except for the staying home part. My husband doesn't understand. && I didn't know the mental strain that staying at home puts you under. I had no idea that I would feel nuts some days =( =( And when DS gets bored, he starts messing around in their room... & I always come in to find him changing clothes. Sometimes, it's his clothes, sometimes it's his sisters. I HATE THAT. I definitely dont want him stretching out his little sisters clothes and of course I dont want him to think its ok to wear girls clothes. I repeatedly tell him not to do it & then I find him doing it again. SOOO frustrating to me because normally he's not a disobedient child. Ugh I jus needed to vent. I feel like I'm gonna cry just writing this stupid thing. help. please?
When my kids come whining to me about being bored, I find something for them to do. They wont' like it I promise Sometimes I make them lay in their bed for 30 mins, they HATE that! But three is a little young to push too much... I'd say some of it is just a phase that you will have to go through for a while. Do you have a sitter you could leave him with one day a week? or a couple hours in the mornings, so you can focus on your work and have 'me' time? He would love to have that to do also, and a friend to play with.
Staying at home is hard- it's different then going out to work and interacting with adults! Is there anything within walking distance you could go to? Any friends you could invite over? Is it possible to drive hubby to work a few times a week in order to have a vehicle? Do you have any sort of routine to your day? That helps me not go totally insane!! Would rotating toys around help? Put some away and bring them out periodically- makes them seem like new again!
First off, at this age, there is nothing wrong with him wearing girl's clothes around his room. But your concerns about him ruining them are valid. If he likes changing clothes that much, why don't you be firm that he can change his own clothes as much as he wants, but must leave his sister's alone. That sounds like a fair compromise. And really, what's an extra load of laundry compared to a bored child? Or, if you really don't want to go that route, make a big box of dress up stuff. This is a great time of year to find costumes at thrift stores. Pirates, knights, chefs, police, firemen, the list is endless. I know how you feel, though. I hated it when my older two were little (newborn and 2 years old) because I had to take care of the baby and entertain the toddler. It was so. boring. I know some parents just love playing with their toddlers, but I am not one of them. Playing with him was just another chore on my list. But it's part of being a mom. And it's important. So play with him I did! The list of possibilities are endless, really: playdough, finger paints, sidewalk chalk, worksheets, coloring, etc. Each should hold his attention for at least 30 minutes. Especially if you are actively involved with each. He won't need your undivided attention, but if you have him at the table with playdough while you're washing dishes and continue dialogue with him about what he's making, he'll be more apt to spend more time with the playdough before growing tired of it.
My MIL, who is raising my nieces, has a great system. She has 10 totes of toys. Two for each day of the week (mon - fri). They are labeled, even. So she has two weeks worth of rotation. I hope that makes sense. Their favorites are left out all the time, and for when they are there on weekends, but the other toys are 'new' every day.
You can also develop some tubs with special "school toys" in them. You've got to build them up as being EXTRA SPECIAL. The only time he's "permitted" to get into these tubs is during school time. You might have wooden beads and laces in one with pattern cards, or special blocks, or whatever. I know others have posted great ideas for them, but my kids are older to where I don't remember all the great ideas anymore.
ahh you ladies are lifesavers really. well its not possible to take hubby to work because he works 30 minutes away.. and nothing is within walking distance, but i love the dress up clothes idea. I think that'd be great. I'm gonna get something like that together. amie: I'm so glad im not the only mom who doesn't thoroughly enjoy playing with the kids. DS has asked me to play "mean guys" (action figures) three times today & ive done it all three times but the whole time i was ready for it to be over. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE reading to him, playing playdoh & puzzles with him... but the action figures bore me. lol well i feel better now, i really do. & I think I'm going to get a bit more of a routine & a system set up. I've been suffering a BAD case of mommy burnout lately!
I hear you on the action figures (GI Joes and legos here) especially since my son changes the rules and his guys always have ever-expanding powers/weapons that mine never seem to acquire. Some days, I will tell him to go pick a board game because I WILL NOT play GI Joes. I have found creating a list of activities (play doh, board game, drawing, etc.), cutting them into strips and putting in a container (I used an old sour cream container with a lid) is a fun way to come up with what to do. Let HIM pick a paper out, you read it to him, and he does the activity.
My husband also works about 20-30 minutes away, and I do take him to work and keep the car a few days out of the week. My DS has choir practice 2x a week, clear on the other side of town, and I have prenatal dr appts every 2 weeks (soon to be every week). It's challenging to schedule it right, but we do it. We wake up early, and while DH showers, I make breakfast, DS makes his bed, and gets dressed, then we eat, then I shower, then we all leave the house by 8am, an I'm back home at 9am to start school. This is going to be a lot harder to do in a month, with a newborn, but we have no other choice. I know both of your kids are young, but might it be worth it for you to wake up extra early a few days a week to keep the car and do stuff outside of the home?
Also, what is outside your home? Perhaps you can just go outside for an hour and look at birds and bugs and clouds and trees (nature walk).
I am another mom that doesn't like to play, I don't even like play-dough. Never have, I don't think I ever will. I didn't even play when I was little. When my 4.5 yo was 3 he did the whole clothes chaning thing, all the time. And he loved putting on his little brothers clothes, I let him, because it kept him entertained. (If he had a little sister, I wouldn't have let him.) Anyway, this wore off after about a month or two. He still loves to try on clothes, and likes to change clothes, but not every 5 min. Now he has his "go out clothes" and his "stay home clothes." If we get to go out, away from the house, he changes as soon as we get home and this seems to satisfiy him most of the time. We only have one car, too, and dh works 30 min. from home. About the only place the rest of us go is to the Dr. or Church. It does get hard and lonely at times, so I hear you there. Sorry, not much help here, just wanted to let you know that your not alone.
OH! Another "dress up" trick that tends to occupy a lot of time is to include some of your DH's old clothes. It's tricky trying to get such big clothes on, especially if they have buttons, so it kills time
first here's a ((((((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))))))))))) yes its not easy but its rewarding. What about getting some legos for him to put together if you get the big ones so the baby would eat them. Or he can only have legos when baby is sleeping. Color books are great. What about going to library where you can get books on tape for him to sit and listen and follow along in a book.
