Being a parent can be a slog. I am not going to lie there are times when I find mothering a monotony. Now do not get me wrong, I adore my children and have come to know that I was born to be a parent, but heck there have been days and even months when I have wanted to tear my hair out over thinking about cooking yet another meal or wiping another bottom (thankfully baby days and toddler days are long gone).
Kids thrive on routine, well at least mine do. They like to know what we are having for dinner, what time is lunch and Maxi likes to be in charge of making sure the timetable is strictly adhered to (a sergeant major in the making that one)!
So how do we make sure we escape the monotony of motherhood?
Tips for getting through the monotony of parenting
For me it is all about keeping “mainly” to the routine, but jazzing it up a bit. I do this by making the ordinary extraordinary.
- Watching a film becomes movie night. We have popcorn in homemade popcorn boxes and sit under the blanket all snuggled up.
- Stop rushing. Now this might just be me, but when I rush to do the things I SHOULD be doing I become grumpy, instead the washing can wait, whilst that tickle is so essential!
- Mix it up a bit. We are not lovers of Monday mornings in The Mad House. I get sad that the boys are going to school and that the weekend is over, but instead of moping, we celebrate the start of the week with a special family breakfast.
- We pretty much eat every meal at the dining room or kitchen table, so there is nothing wrong with eating homemade pizza on our knees in the sitting room. I remember fondly the Sunday evening tea at home growing up salad sandwiches whilst watching Buck Rogers.
- Take time to smell the flowers. How often do you just sit and watch the stars? I want to sit and teach the kids their constellations and if there is a clear night, then why not let the go to bed ten minutes later.
- End each day with three good things. This is a throwback to my PND, one of my CBT exercises was to find three good things to end each day with. I do this with the boys each evening and still end my night finding the small joys.
- Choose Joy. By this I mean make the choice to accept the monotony, but also make sure that you look for and acknowledge that the small things make a big difference. Little things make a big difference. A great example of this is our Sodastream, by adding bubbles to plain water it brings happiness to my kids. It is a small thing that makes the kids happy.
- Find something that keeps you engaged. I try and keep the brain muscles engaged, learning and blogging does this for me. Finding small snippets of time to do things that I enjoy.
- Be spontaneous. Yes we have a routine, but there is always wiggle room to do something spontaneous.
- If all else fails, get outside. Set the reset button by getting some fresh air for you and the kids.
I am going to admit that I found the baby and toddler days hard work. The repetitive nature of mothering a small person often drove me insane. I am lucky that my best friend also has kids and we would commiserate each other and remind each other that things were often “just a phase”.
She taught me to give myself a break and set the same rules for myself as I would a friend, oh and if all else fails then there is nothing wrong in locking yourself in the loo for 5 minutes so you actually get to drink a hot cup of tea!
How do you take the monotony out of parenting?
Great tips! We too eat at the table, I love doing it and makes life so much easier! I am guilty of rushing around getting things done and know I need to slow down! Suz xo
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We eat at the table too almost every night, but that makes it a bit special when we have a night when we eat pizza in front of the TV or whatever.
Some super tips Jen, i am often to busy with routine i dont notice the other things .. I love the idea of movie night x
Some super tips Jen, i am often to busy with routine i dont notice the other things .. I love the idea of movie night x
Ooh I remember Sunday teatimes with buck rogers – we usually had a roast at one of the granparents houses, then tea would be crumpets or similar in front of the telly, which was a real treat!
Top tips as always, we have a movie night each week whether is it a new film or a family favourite… so nice to sit and snuggle.
I love these – great tips…we occassionally will spontaneously go out for dinner which I always love as it creates lots of excitement!!
There’s something really good about just getting outside even if only for 15 minutes – it’s one of the things I’m trying to do more of
There’s something really good about just getting outside even if only for 15 minutes – it’s one of the things I’m trying to do more of
Some great tips, it can get boring and monotonous, especially when school routines are involved! We like to get out and about in the fresh air to blow the cobwebs away.
Some great tips, it can get boring and monotonous, especially when school routines are involved! We like to get out and about in the fresh air to blow the cobwebs away.
I always find that walking in the countryside works wonders. A quick tour of the field behind our house with the dog always makes me happy. And it helps when the kids are old enough to leave on their own for a while.
Great tips and love the idea of ending the day on three good things, thanks for this.
I remember Buck Rogers but do you remember Saturdays with Baywatch and Basil Brush 🙂
I like the idea of having a special breakfast on a Monday morning.
Nooooo, my children cannot possibly go to bed ten minutes early, especially not on a school night…..oh wait you’re right! It can be so hard letting the routine go but your post has reminded me that I need to be less rigid -that’s why I’m reading blogs at midnight when I should be sleeping!
Monday morning special breakfast sounds brilliant! We are definitely going to try this, even if I have to get up a tiny bit earlier!
And 3 Good Things at the end of the day sounds really helpful. My son has anxiety & I think this could help him. Thank you.
We try and do different activities every week and try not to be too repetitive – we tried a movie night a couple of weeks ago and the kids loved it
My life is far from being monoton. Sometimes i wish i could just get the time to be bored!
My kids surprise me with inventing new ways of keeping our lives interesting, so monotony is not a problem in our family. But going outside for pressing “the reset button” as you said it is neccesarily from time to time.
These are some great tips and we do something similar to the 3 things questions. It’s a great post
Such great tips here, I love the special Monday breakfast idea, Monday mornings are my most dreaded time of the week, I love the idea of turning it around and making it something lovely 🙂
I think you have some great ideas, it is the never ending line of washing or washing up (no dishwasher) that gets me down sometimes, you finally clean through that hug pile of dirty clothes are proud of your actions and then turn around and the family have made more!!
a special monday breakfast sounds like the perfect way to shake off the monday blues! x
I love the idea of thinking of three positive things before bed. I really need to put it into practise. x
The 3 good things is a good idea. I’ve Not heard of that before.