Tips for a new SAHM?

mollynpatrick

I recently resigned from my teaching position as it was not going to be very cost effective to send three kids to daycare full-time so I could teach. Yay! I'm totally thrilled!!

So I will be new to this gig. I have always enjoyed having the summer with the kids but I can already see how DH kind of busts up our flow when he is home on the weekends. I'm hoping to avoid being bitchy with him every weekend all year round now . Any tips on staying sane? Keeping a cleaning schedule? Outings to try? I don't know .... I'm just so excited to finally be able to do it!!

Jodi&Joe

Make sure you accomplish at least one thing daily (whether that be cook dinner or clean a bathroom or whatever.  Just make sure you do one thing each day that you can feel "ah, I got that done!" about)!

Take time for yourself.  Pick 3 hours once a week that is YOU time.  It's extremely important to have this time.  Otherwise, IMO, you will burn out.  And fast.

Good luck!  I'm sure you will do fine! 

eclaires

My big tips:

#1 - find some local resources that list all the free/cheap activities around during the weekday.  It's amazing what's available.

#2 - memberships are SO worth it.  SO.  Zoo, children's museum, things like that.  Libraries are typically great resources too.  Ours has story time for different age groups every weekday.

#3 - figure out a cleaning schedule that works for you and spread out the cleaning over the week but figure out what things you'll do daily (like picking up the playroom, kitchen clean up, dishes).  And stick to it!  It will make you much saner if you don't like clutter.

#4 - usually local parks&recs departments have some classes.  this varies by place but when we lived in Indiana, our department had TONS of stuff.

To be honest, we're not doing any classes right now, b/c I prefer getting out on our own and the kids have friends in our neighborhood (plus Jackson is in school 3 days per week), but Scarlett and I may start Little Gym or some music classes this fall.

I've also heard good things about finding local mom's groups or using meetup.com for playgroups.  Of course if you have lots of friends w/ kids, some of this is unnecessary, but we moved 6 hours away w/ knowing no one 2 years ago. 

 

passar3588

My biggest advice is to get out as much as possible every day even if it's just for a couple of hours. I'm a homebody by nature so this is very hard for me in the winter, but I find if I'm home too much I get in a funk and become more disorganized than I am if we're on the go all the time. 

I agree with the pp who said that memberships are totally worth it. We had memberships to a swim club this summer and to the zoo and it's so nice to be able to take the kids OUT somewhere for several hours and come home to a clean house at the end of the day. I find if we're out and about, the house stays cleaner. I'm probably going to get a membership to a science center this winter so that I have somewhere to take the kids on the days they don't have school. We also do our share of going to the library in the winter. Also, lessons/classes always help break up the day. My girls are doing soccer in the fall and spring and they'll do swimming lessons in the winter.

I definitely do have one or two days a week that I focus on cleaning, but I don't stick to a schedule. With 3 kids, I have to find the time where I can get it or just get as much done as I can in a pretty small window. Usually Mondays and Thursdays are days where I spend a couple of hours on cleaning and meal prep in the morning before we go anywhere or in the afternoon after we've been out. Don't feel guilty about telling your kids that you need the time to catch up. I had to get over that long ago. I prefer to get the bulk of the cleaning done during the week so that weekends can be family time, especially in the summer.

Also, join a moms club if there's one in your area. Go to momsclub.org or meetup to find one. I'm not super active in mine, but I've met a lot of people through it and it's nice to be able to go to activities here or there if you have nothing to do.  

AnnapolisLari

If you have a hobby, find a meetup group to get out every once in a while. I have met an amazing group of women through my knitting group. We meet every other week for 3 hours and it's a great break.

Ditto on the memberships. We have a local farm park, the Children's Museum, the zoo and our natural history museum membership just expired.

 

sarahjared

Don't have any advice since I work but just wanted to say congrats!  Also, I am a little bit jealous:)

mollynpatrick

Thanks so much for the replies, ladies! I just requested membership in two moms groups on meetup. I'll see if either feels like a good fit. I wish I didn't hate the zoo because that would be a great membership to have. Might have to suck it up. I'm also hoping to work in a little more bump time! And sarahjared - don't be a little jealous yet! I'll have to let you know how it's going in a month or two! haha

Mrs.JDD

Just wanted to say a quick hi and see how you are doing!  When you told me you were having your third I thought to myself that it would only be a matter of time before going back to teaching just wouldn't make sense, at least for a couple of years