Baby, you’re my favourite waste of time

September 10, 2015

“What exactly do you do all day?” an irritating question most mums will get asked at some point.

Good point though, what exactly do we do all day?

What exactly do stay at home mums do all day?

At the moment I’m still so tired that doing most things feels like walking backwards in quicksand mixed with treacle, and going anywhere far with both girls can often be a big effort, the baby is at that stage where she just wants to be free to walk along the furniture all day or crawl around creating chaos, clutching her socks.

And some days it takes us around three hours to all get dressed, longer to actually leave the house (and three months to make it to playgroup).

So at the moment, we stay close to home quite a lot.

Which is fine. We have the park, play dates, toys, and books, singing and dancing fifty times in a row to ‘shake it off’, and loads of freestyling craft time generally involving glitter, stickers and the floor, and everyone’s happy.

But some days it can seem like you’ve done everything by 9am and the day can stretch before you a lot of time to fill and kill. So to keep things really interesting, we’ve devised a series of slightly more alternative activities to keep us all busy: 

Abacus two

Watching the bin men: God’s gift to stay at home mothers, surely? The bin men are the number one argument for paying your council tax. Not only do they take your rubbish but they entertain children for ages, week after week. There’s a big, noisy lorry, lots of activity and they always smile and wave. As with most crazy councils, we have about ten different refuse collections spread out of the week so they are a never-ending source of joy.

Got milk? The easiest option to get out of the house with a purpose – when we’ve already done the park that day – is to go to the shop. We go to the shop a lot. This can take up a lot of time at the moment as we spend ages doing this, both there and back. Our new favourite thing to do once there is to find barcodes on food and use the self-service checkout; it’s like playing shops but actually real. Then there’s always the added fun of having to go back and get the shopping absent minded mummy has left on the counter. Ahem.

Dodging the delivery man: When you’re the only ones at home on a long street of people who are out at work, the delivery men quickly get to know who who you are. Which means it’s your house they come to when no-one else is in, and your hall lined with an wallpaper of parcels that aren’t yours. But aha, we’ve sussed them at their game. If we hear a van pull up and another doorbell ring, followed swiftly by our doorbell, I can guarantee it’s an big exciting parcel…not for us. So we stay as quiet as possible and don’t answer (quiet is not quite that easy with two children, which adds an element of excitement).

Going to the ‘big shop’: Depending on how the day is going, sometimes we walk the slightly longer walk down to Waitrose instead, with it’s wide shiny aisles and fifty different colourful varieties of each thing. The biggest pull though is the cafe, with both babyccinos and caffeine, so everyone’s a winner.

The supermarket shopping delivery run: As everyone’s favourite role model Mary Poppins once said, for every job that must be done there is an element of fun. Find the fun and…in the hierarchy of boring household chores, the online shop delivery is a good one. All the shopping has to be taken from the door to the kitchen, then unpacked (which Eliza thinks is like Christmas). Sometimes I even play Russian roulette by letting her carry the eggs.

What’s your favourite everyday baby and toddler time wasting activity?

P.S. baby milestone cards for mums, 32 things you’ll obsess about in the first year and can cloth cut it?

13 Comments

  • Sarah Rooftops

    September 10, 2015 at 8:50 pm

    I’m looking forward to the day I can turn pairing the socks into a fun game. Matilda is not quite there yet – it’s all pulling silly faces and waving a muslin at her (“Feel the breeze! Wheeeeee!”) and then resorting to sticking CBeebies on at the moment.

  • Kate

    September 10, 2015 at 8:56 pm

    Costa for a hot chocolate and marshmallow is current no 1 here, I give the baby a tea cake which is fairly acceptable for a second child diet and I actually get 15 minutes to drink a coffee (if I get a seat by the window so he can shout at the buses that is)

  • Sugar&Rhubarb

    September 10, 2015 at 10:13 pm

    ALL HAIL THE BINMEN AND THEIR FLASHING LIGHT LORRY!! We are hugely lucky to live by the sea so that’s a ‘big outing’ for us on sunny days. I do long for a good duck feeding pond though!! x

  • Hannah

    September 11, 2015 at 9:24 am

    Yes!!! The Sainsbury’s delivery is one of B’s favourite times of the week, and the delivery driver thinks she’s hilarious! Lots of shouting and “hurray! Sainsbury’s brought me these!” “Thank you Sainsbury’s man!” I’m glad it’s not just me trying to find games in the ordinary 🙂 Xxx

    1. gillian

      September 14, 2015 at 8:53 am

      I love how easily pleased they are with the shopping delivery! E’s exactly the same ‘we have APPLES!’ etc. So cute. I think you do have to find fun in the mundane / everyday or you’d go a bit mad 🙂 x

  • Molly

    September 14, 2015 at 2:26 pm

    Ha – I think if it wasn’t for the school run we’d all remain in our pyjamas all day long! Our favourite waste of time activity is the post office. It involves actually getting in the car and driving to the nearest town, finding a parking space and then chatting to all the old people in the queue, who all know who Baby Girl is and coo over her. She loves it, naturally.

  • Adele @ Circus Queen

    September 14, 2015 at 8:26 pm

    I love this post. Kids definitely redefine slow living!

  • Kathryn (@KatGotTheCream)

    September 15, 2015 at 3:36 pm

    This brings back memories. I can remember constructing an entire day around a visit to my local supermarket. It sounds heinously boring, but actually I miss those slightly dream-state, first months with a new born! I must study my binmen a bit more closely though – feel like I’m missing out! x

  • Katy

    September 15, 2015 at 4:35 pm

    Ha! I always get asked what I do all day because I work from home. It’s amazing how quickly a day can disappear and then others drag on x

  • Jess @ Along Came Cherry

    September 15, 2015 at 4:48 pm

    Haha going to the shop was literally the highlight of our day for about a year! We live opposite a supermarket so walking over would be the only time we left the house sometimes! x

  • fritha

    September 16, 2015 at 10:36 am

    ha Wilf loves the bin men too! I have to say I still find it all quite fascinating, something about them crunching up the bags! I’d never thought to make shopping a game like that, although I do HATE shopping in general but maybe this would change that! x

  • Lia

    September 21, 2015 at 10:35 am

    I used to spend my life in Sainsburys Merton Abbey Mills when Dexter was ickle – I could easily do a couple of hours on those days when you’ve done about 100 parks before midday!

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