batty and bored
Even though I am one myself, sometimes I really don't know how other stay-at-home mothers do it. Not so much the juggling of all the things that need to be done at home (it certainly isn't endless cups of tea and putting your feet up while the child plays quietly by your side), but in coping with the mind-boggling tedium of it all.
Usually I try to plan little activities or dates with friends to shake things up a bit. You know how boring your life is when a trip to the library or the supermarket across the road is the highlight of the day. That's why The Bun has playgroup and swim classes - I think I gain as much from them as he does. But since he has been ill, we've been home almost all week and it's starting to do me in.
Today we were supposed to meet a friend for breakfast but she cancelled because some work stuff came up, so no go on that. It rained anyway, so I didn't go out in the morning and ended up doing a load of laundry instead. The Bun helped me; he can actually be quite useful since we now have a partnership thing going. He can get the laundry hamper from the bedroom and bring it to the kitchen to load the machine all by himself. I just have to keep an eye on the stuff that needs to be bagged or washed separately, but otherwise he can load the machine pretty well for me. After the wash cycle starts, he drags the empty laundry hamper back to the room and replaces the lid on it. At least someone's finally starting to earn his keep...
Laundry done, then followed lunch to cook and eat - exciting stuff. I was going to take The Bun out for a walk or to the playground after lunch since the weather was nice and cloudy, but he kept headbutting me and then threw a tantrum when I scolded him so nobody wanted to go outside after that. More crankiness until I finally wrangled him into bed for his nap. Naptime = happy hour for me. Thank goodness for naps.
J was working late tonight and wouldn't be back for dinner, so I had planned to go over to my parents' place for dinner so that they could cook dinner and babysit spend some time with The Bun. But at 5pm, just as I was getting ready to leave, my father called and said my mother was down with the flu (probably caught it from The Bun) and had to go to the doctor, so dinner was off. I hadn't defrosted or prepped anything for dinner so I hurriedly began to throw things together for a simple dinner, cooked as best I could with The Bun hanging onto my ankles - scrambled eggs with cheese, angel hair pasta in a ketchup sauce and pumpkin mash with spinach mixed in.
By this time I was seriously tired of entertaining The Bun, coming up with activities for him to do, answering his endless questions, and dealing with his equally endless demands. Throw in a couple more tantrums and various bouts of whining and I was already counting the minutes down to bedtime. The Bun can't even be fobbed off with TV because he is quite scared of various programmes, especially drama serials, and he is only willing to watch an hour of TV at noon when I'm cooking lunch because he's familiar with the programmes then. He is even terrified of the DVD player so unfortunately, my use of the electronic babysitter is quite limited.
I was tired and restless of being home with him all day so I packed us off to the library in the evening and spent a long time just browsing books and reading them to The Bun sitting on my lap. We also stopped off at the playground on our way home for him to run off some of his energy. Then it was bath, books, and finally, bed.
I had no adult contact and didn't leave my immediate neighbourhood for the entire day - no wonder I was going a bit batty.
Usually I try to plan little activities or dates with friends to shake things up a bit. You know how boring your life is when a trip to the library or the supermarket across the road is the highlight of the day. That's why The Bun has playgroup and swim classes - I think I gain as much from them as he does. But since he has been ill, we've been home almost all week and it's starting to do me in.
Today we were supposed to meet a friend for breakfast but she cancelled because some work stuff came up, so no go on that. It rained anyway, so I didn't go out in the morning and ended up doing a load of laundry instead. The Bun helped me; he can actually be quite useful since we now have a partnership thing going. He can get the laundry hamper from the bedroom and bring it to the kitchen to load the machine all by himself. I just have to keep an eye on the stuff that needs to be bagged or washed separately, but otherwise he can load the machine pretty well for me. After the wash cycle starts, he drags the empty laundry hamper back to the room and replaces the lid on it. At least someone's finally starting to earn his keep...
Laundry done, then followed lunch to cook and eat - exciting stuff. I was going to take The Bun out for a walk or to the playground after lunch since the weather was nice and cloudy, but he kept headbutting me and then threw a tantrum when I scolded him so nobody wanted to go outside after that. More crankiness until I finally wrangled him into bed for his nap. Naptime = happy hour for me. Thank goodness for naps.
J was working late tonight and wouldn't be back for dinner, so I had planned to go over to my parents' place for dinner so that they could cook dinner and babysit spend some time with The Bun. But at 5pm, just as I was getting ready to leave, my father called and said my mother was down with the flu (probably caught it from The Bun) and had to go to the doctor, so dinner was off. I hadn't defrosted or prepped anything for dinner so I hurriedly began to throw things together for a simple dinner, cooked as best I could with The Bun hanging onto my ankles - scrambled eggs with cheese, angel hair pasta in a ketchup sauce and pumpkin mash with spinach mixed in.
By this time I was seriously tired of entertaining The Bun, coming up with activities for him to do, answering his endless questions, and dealing with his equally endless demands. Throw in a couple more tantrums and various bouts of whining and I was already counting the minutes down to bedtime. The Bun can't even be fobbed off with TV because he is quite scared of various programmes, especially drama serials, and he is only willing to watch an hour of TV at noon when I'm cooking lunch because he's familiar with the programmes then. He is even terrified of the DVD player so unfortunately, my use of the electronic babysitter is quite limited.
I was tired and restless of being home with him all day so I packed us off to the library in the evening and spent a long time just browsing books and reading them to The Bun sitting on my lap. We also stopped off at the playground on our way home for him to run off some of his energy. Then it was bath, books, and finally, bed.
I had no adult contact and didn't leave my immediate neighbourhood for the entire day - no wonder I was going a bit batty.