Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For me I was so glad to have my children home and we could be a family not going this way and that. It wasn’t filling the time it was just a joy to have the time. We could sleep late, eat fun breakfasts at 10 am or later if we wanted. They could help with the meals and we could have hamburgers for breakfast if we wanted. IT WAS TIME OFF. We could enjoy being a family.
We did things for our neighbors; rake an elderly neighbor’s yard, or make cookies and deliver them, make up silly songs, read Christmas stories or stay in our PJ’s and have a movie marathon. We built a tent under the kitchen table and “camped out/in”.
Enjoy your children Mom. Make memories. Just love up on them and let them love up on you and let the world go by. It is Christmas. Celebrate the season. Blessings to you and your wonderful family.

This all sounds really lovely, but reallllly not how a 2 year old can spend a day (which OP has). I have a 2 yo and at a minimum we need a long playground outing or walk to get through a day. She's a ball of energy.

Exactly! My 2 year old would spend about 15 minutes in a tent under the kitchen table before moving on to the next activity. It's also hard to get him to sleep after he's watched more than 30 minutes of a movie.

We all thrive when we're on the move.

I’m not trying to make this a working mom vs stay at home debate but SAHMs have breakfast at home with kids every single day. My older kids love building forts and my 2 yo destroys their fort. My older kids love to build legos and my 2yo May either whine and cry wanting a little mini figure or take the dragon my kid just built. My older kids love chess and board games. My 2yo comes and steals the horses. This happens all day long so yeah it is hard to be home all day long and be lazy and just enjoy being home.

Don’t get me wrong. There are lovely moments where all 3 kids play well together but it sure as hell isnt from 6am when 2yo wakes up to bedtime. We do what you mentioned daily and also go on outings, go out to eat, have play dates, practice piano, go hiking, run errands, etc. everyday is a staycation day for me.

Don't worry, the original post quoted here sounds like it's from someone who hasn't had young children for a very long time. Someday we'll all remember our days at home with this kind of hazy, rose-colored nostalgia and we can drive all the moms of young kids crazy with our unrealistic suggestions

Yeah, I won’t take it personally. Sure, I would love to sleep in late. Too bad my 2yo is awake by 6am. She missed the memo that we were planning to sleep in today. And pretty much everyday I have this helper who helps me cook breakfast, lunch and dinner by playing next to me and also helping me by spilling, crying and pulling pots, snacks, bags and anything else out of our pantry and kitchen helping me cook.

Our family did bake cookies and decorate gingerbread houses this weekend. We also completed a thousand piece puzzle, made xmas ornaments, made snowmen and snowflakes. 2 of my kids had a birthday party to attend and we went to brunch with our friends.

Yeah you can pack a LOT of activities at home into several hours and then look at the clock and it's 10 am, which is when the poster's perfect day begins

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For me I was so glad to have my children home and we could be a family not going this way and that. It wasn’t filling the time it was just a joy to have the time. We could sleep late, eat fun breakfasts at 10 am or later if we wanted. They could help with the meals and we could have hamburgers for breakfast if we wanted. IT WAS TIME OFF. We could enjoy being a family.
We did things for our neighbors; rake an elderly neighbor’s yard, or make cookies and deliver them, make up silly songs, read Christmas stories or stay in our PJ’s and have a movie marathon. We built a tent under the kitchen table and “camped out/in”.
Enjoy your children Mom. Make memories. Just love up on them and let them love up on you and let the world go by. It is Christmas. Celebrate the season. Blessings to you and your wonderful family.

This all sounds really lovely, but reallllly not how a 2 year old can spend a day (which OP has). I have a 2 yo and at a minimum we need a long playground outing or walk to get through a day. She's a ball of energy.

Exactly! My 2 year old would spend about 15 minutes in a tent under the kitchen table before moving on to the next activity. It's also hard to get him to sleep after he's watched more than 30 minutes of a movie.

We all thrive when we're on the move.

I’m not trying to make this a working mom vs stay at home debate but SAHMs have breakfast at home with kids every single day. My older kids love building forts and my 2 yo destroys their fort. My older kids love to build legos and my 2yo May either whine and cry wanting a little mini figure or take the dragon my kid just built. My older kids love chess and board games. My 2yo comes and steals the horses. This happens all day long so yeah it is hard to be home all day long and be lazy and just enjoy being home.

Don’t get me wrong. There are lovely moments where all 3 kids play well together but it sure as hell isnt from 6am when 2yo wakes up to bedtime. We do what you mentioned daily and also go on outings, go out to eat, have play dates, practice piano, go hiking, run errands, etc. everyday is a staycation day for me.

Don't worry, the original post quoted here sounds like it's from someone who hasn't had young children for a very long time. Someday we'll all remember our days at home with this kind of hazy, rose-colored nostalgia and we can drive all the moms of young kids crazy with our unrealistic suggestions

Yeah, I won’t take it personally. Sure, I would love to sleep in late. Too bad my 2yo is awake by 6am. She missed the memo that we were planning to sleep in today. And pretty much everyday I have this helper who helps me cook breakfast, lunch and dinner by playing next to me and also helping me by spilling, crying and pulling pots, snacks, bags and anything else out of our pantry and kitchen helping me cook.

Our family did bake cookies and decorate gingerbread houses this weekend. We also completed a thousand piece puzzle, made xmas ornaments, made snowmen and snowflakes. 2 of my kids had a birthday party to attend and we went to brunch with our friends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For me I was so glad to have my children home and we could be a family not going this way and that. It wasn’t filling the time it was just a joy to have the time. We could sleep late, eat fun breakfasts at 10 am or later if we wanted. They could help with the meals and we could have hamburgers for breakfast if we wanted. IT WAS TIME OFF. We could enjoy being a family.
We did things for our neighbors; rake an elderly neighbor’s yard, or make cookies and deliver them, make up silly songs, read Christmas stories or stay in our PJ’s and have a movie marathon. We built a tent under the kitchen table and “camped out/in”.
Enjoy your children Mom. Make memories. Just love up on them and let them love up on you and let the world go by. It is Christmas. Celebrate the season. Blessings to you and your wonderful family.

This all sounds really lovely, but reallllly not how a 2 year old can spend a day (which OP has). I have a 2 yo and at a minimum we need a long playground outing or walk to get through a day. She's a ball of energy.

Exactly! My 2 year old would spend about 15 minutes in a tent under the kitchen table before moving on to the next activity. It's also hard to get him to sleep after he's watched more than 30 minutes of a movie.

We all thrive when we're on the move.

I’m not trying to make this a working mom vs stay at home debate but SAHMs have breakfast at home with kids every single day. My older kids love building forts and my 2 yo destroys their fort. My older kids love to build legos and my 2yo May either whine and cry wanting a little mini figure or take the dragon my kid just built. My older kids love chess and board games. My 2yo comes and steals the horses. This happens all day long so yeah it is hard to be home all day long and be lazy and just enjoy being home.

Don’t get me wrong. There are lovely moments where all 3 kids play well together but it sure as hell isnt from 6am when 2yo wakes up to bedtime. We do what you mentioned daily and also go on outings, go out to eat, have play dates, practice piano, go hiking, run errands, etc. everyday is a staycation day for me.

What does eating breakfast have to do with it? I'm genuinely confused. --A WOHM mom who also eats breakfast with her kids every single day before work and daycare.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For me I was so glad to have my children home and we could be a family not going this way and that. It wasn’t filling the time it was just a joy to have the time. We could sleep late, eat fun breakfasts at 10 am or later if we wanted. They could help with the meals and we could have hamburgers for breakfast if we wanted. IT WAS TIME OFF. We could enjoy being a family.
We did things for our neighbors; rake an elderly neighbor’s yard, or make cookies and deliver them, make up silly songs, read Christmas stories or stay in our PJ’s and have a movie marathon. We built a tent under the kitchen table and “camped out/in”.
Enjoy your children Mom. Make memories. Just love up on them and let them love up on you and let the world go by. It is Christmas. Celebrate the season. Blessings to you and your wonderful family.

This all sounds really lovely, but reallllly not how a 2 year old can spend a day (which OP has). I have a 2 yo and at a minimum we need a long playground outing or walk to get through a day. She's a ball of energy.

Exactly! My 2 year old would spend about 15 minutes in a tent under the kitchen table before moving on to the next activity. It's also hard to get him to sleep after he's watched more than 30 minutes of a movie.

We all thrive when we're on the move.

I’m not trying to make this a working mom vs stay at home debate but SAHMs have breakfast at home with kids every single day. My older kids love building forts and my 2 yo destroys their fort. My older kids love to build legos and my 2yo May either whine and cry wanting a little mini figure or take the dragon my kid just built. My older kids love chess and board games. My 2yo comes and steals the horses. This happens all day long so yeah it is hard to be home all day long and be lazy and just enjoy being home.

Don’t get me wrong. There are lovely moments where all 3 kids play well together but it sure as hell isnt from 6am when 2yo wakes up to bedtime. We do what you mentioned daily and also go on outings, go out to eat, have play dates, practice piano, go hiking, run errands, etc. everyday is a staycation day for me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For me I was so glad to have my children home and we could be a family not going this way and that. It wasn’t filling the time it was just a joy to have the time. We could sleep late, eat fun breakfasts at 10 am or later if we wanted. They could help with the meals and we could have hamburgers for breakfast if we wanted. IT WAS TIME OFF. We could enjoy being a family.
We did things for our neighbors; rake an elderly neighbor’s yard, or make cookies and deliver them, make up silly songs, read Christmas stories or stay in our PJ’s and have a movie marathon. We built a tent under the kitchen table and “camped out/in”.
Enjoy your children Mom. Make memories. Just love up on them and let them love up on you and let the world go by. It is Christmas. Celebrate the season. Blessings to you and your wonderful family.

This all sounds really lovely, but reallllly not how a 2 year old can spend a day (which OP has). I have a 2 yo and at a minimum we need a long playground outing or walk to get through a day. She's a ball of energy.

Exactly! My 2 year old would spend about 15 minutes in a tent under the kitchen table before moving on to the next activity. It's also hard to get him to sleep after he's watched more than 30 minutes of a movie.

We all thrive when we're on the move.

I’m not trying to make this a working mom vs stay at home debate but SAHMs have breakfast at home with kids every single day. My older kids love building forts and my 2 yo destroys their fort. My older kids love to build legos and my 2yo May either whine and cry wanting a little mini figure or take the dragon my kid just built. My older kids love chess and board games. My 2yo comes and steals the horses. This happens all day long so yeah it is hard to be home all day long and be lazy and just enjoy being home.

Don’t get me wrong. There are lovely moments where all 3 kids play well together but it sure as hell isnt from 6am when 2yo wakes up to bedtime. We do what you mentioned daily and also go on outings, go out to eat, have play dates, practice piano, go hiking, run errands, etc. everyday is a staycation day for me.

Don't worry, the original post quoted here sounds like it's from someone who hasn't had young children for a very long time. Someday we'll all remember our days at home with this kind of hazy, rose-colored nostalgia and we can drive all the moms of young kids crazy with our unrealistic suggestions

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For me I was so glad to have my children home and we could be a family not going this way and that. It wasn’t filling the time it was just a joy to have the time. We could sleep late, eat fun breakfasts at 10 am or later if we wanted. They could help with the meals and we could have hamburgers for breakfast if we wanted. IT WAS TIME OFF. We could enjoy being a family.
We did things for our neighbors; rake an elderly neighbor’s yard, or make cookies and deliver them, make up silly songs, read Christmas stories or stay in our PJ’s and have a movie marathon. We built a tent under the kitchen table and “camped out/in”.
Enjoy your children Mom. Make memories. Just love up on them and let them love up on you and let the world go by. It is Christmas. Celebrate the season. Blessings to you and your wonderful family.

This all sounds really lovely, but reallllly not how a 2 year old can spend a day (which OP has). I have a 2 yo and at a minimum we need a long playground outing or walk to get through a day. She's a ball of energy.

Exactly! My 2 year old would spend about 15 minutes in a tent under the kitchen table before moving on to the next activity. It's also hard to get him to sleep after he's watched more than 30 minutes of a movie.

We all thrive when we're on the move.

I’m not trying to make this a working mom vs stay at home debate but SAHMs have breakfast at home with kids every single day. My older kids love building forts and my 2 yo destroys their fort. My older kids love to build legos and my 2yo May either whine and cry wanting a little mini figure or take the dragon my kid just built. My older kids love chess and board games. My 2yo comes and steals the horses. This happens all day long so yeah it is hard to be home all day long and be lazy and just enjoy being home.

Don’t get me wrong. There are lovely moments where all 3 kids play well together but it sure as hell isnt from 6am when 2yo wakes up to bedtime. We do what you mentioned daily and also go on outings, go out to eat, have play dates, practice piano, go hiking, run errands, etc. everyday is a staycation day for me.

I am one of the PP’s who love days at home and I also SAH. I think it’s learned behavior. My kids don’t expect an outing everyday or constant entertainment. I probably leave the house 3-4 days a week, max. I spend lots of time outside, but at home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For me I was so glad to have my children home and we could be a family not going this way and that. It wasn’t filling the time it was just a joy to have the time. We could sleep late, eat fun breakfasts at 10 am or later if we wanted. They could help with the meals and we could have hamburgers for breakfast if we wanted. IT WAS TIME OFF. We could enjoy being a family.
We did things for our neighbors; rake an elderly neighbor’s yard, or make cookies and deliver them, make up silly songs, read Christmas stories or stay in our PJ’s and have a movie marathon. We built a tent under the kitchen table and “camped out/in”.
Enjoy your children Mom. Make memories. Just love up on them and let them love up on you and let the world go by. It is Christmas. Celebrate the season. Blessings to you and your wonderful family.

This all sounds really lovely, but reallllly not how a 2 year old can spend a day (which OP has). I have a 2 yo and at a minimum we need a long playground outing or walk to get through a day. She's a ball of energy.

Exactly! My 2 year old would spend about 15 minutes in a tent under the kitchen table before moving on to the next activity. It's also hard to get him to sleep after he's watched more than 30 minutes of a movie.

We all thrive when we're on the move.

I’m not trying to make this a working mom vs stay at home debate but SAHMs have breakfast at home with kids every single day. My older kids love building forts and my 2 yo destroys their fort. My older kids love to build legos and my 2yo May either whine and cry wanting a little mini figure or take the dragon my kid just built. My older kids love chess and board games. My 2yo comes and steals the horses. This happens all day long so yeah it is hard to be home all day long and be lazy and just enjoy being home.

Don’t get me wrong. There are lovely moments where all 3 kids play well together but it sure as hell isnt from 6am when 2yo wakes up to bedtime. We do what you mentioned daily and also go on outings, go out to eat, have play dates, practice piano, go hiking, run errands, etc. everyday is a staycation day for me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For me I was so glad to have my children home and we could be a family not going this way and that. It wasn’t filling the time it was just a joy to have the time. We could sleep late, eat fun breakfasts at 10 am or later if we wanted. They could help with the meals and we could have hamburgers for breakfast if we wanted. IT WAS TIME OFF. We could enjoy being a family.
We did things for our neighbors; rake an elderly neighbor’s yard, or make cookies and deliver them, make up silly songs, read Christmas stories or stay in our PJ’s and have a movie marathon. We built a tent under the kitchen table and “camped out/in”.
Enjoy your children Mom. Make memories. Just love up on them and let them love up on you and let the world go by. It is Christmas. Celebrate the season. Blessings to you and your wonderful family.

This all sounds really lovely, but reallllly not how a 2 year old can spend a day (which OP has). I have a 2 yo and at a minimum we need a long playground outing or walk to get through a day. She's a ball of energy.

Exactly! My 2 year old would spend about 15 minutes in a tent under the kitchen table before moving on to the next activity. It's also hard to get him to sleep after he's watched more than 30 minutes of a movie.

We all thrive when we're on the move.

I’m not trying to make this a working mom vs stay at home debate but SAHMs have breakfast at home with kids every single day. My older kids love building forts and my 2 yo destroys their fort. My older kids love to build legos and my 2yo May either whine and cry wanting a little mini figure or take the dragon my kid just built. My older kids love chess and board games. My 2yo comes and steals the horses. This happens all day long so yeah it is hard to be home all day long and be lazy and just enjoy being home.

Don’t get me wrong. There are lovely moments where all 3 kids play well together but it sure as hell isnt from 6am when 2yo wakes up to bedtime. We do what you mentioned daily and also go on outings, go out to eat, have play dates, practice piano, go hiking, run errands, etc. everyday is a staycation day for me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For me I was so glad to have my children home and we could be a family not going this way and that. It wasn’t filling the time it was just a joy to have the time. We could sleep late, eat fun breakfasts at 10 am or later if we wanted. They could help with the meals and we could have hamburgers for breakfast if we wanted. IT WAS TIME OFF. We could enjoy being a family.
We did things for our neighbors; rake an elderly neighbor’s yard, or make cookies and deliver them, make up silly songs, read Christmas stories or stay in our PJ’s and have a movie marathon. We built a tent under the kitchen table and “camped out/in”.
Enjoy your children Mom. Make memories. Just love up on them and let them love up on you and let the world go by. It is Christmas. Celebrate the season. Blessings to you and your wonderful family.

This all sounds really lovely, but reallllly not how a 2 year old can spend a day (which OP has). I have a 2 yo and at a minimum we need a long playground outing or walk to get through a day. She's a ball of energy.

Exactly! My 2 year old would spend about 15 minutes in a tent under the kitchen table before moving on to the next activity. It's also hard to get him to sleep after he's watched more than 30 minutes of a movie.

We all thrive when we're on the move.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For me I was so glad to have my children home and we could be a family not going this way and that. It wasn’t filling the time it was just a joy to have the time. We could sleep late, eat fun breakfasts at 10 am or later if we wanted. They could help with the meals and we could have hamburgers for breakfast if we wanted. IT WAS TIME OFF. We could enjoy being a family.
We did things for our neighbors; rake an elderly neighbor’s yard, or make cookies and deliver them, make up silly songs, read Christmas stories or stay in our PJ’s and have a movie marathon. We built a tent under the kitchen table and “camped out/in”.
Enjoy your children Mom. Make memories. Just love up on them and let them love up on you and let the world go by. It is Christmas. Celebrate the season. Blessings to you and your wonderful family.

This all sounds really lovely, but reallllly not how a 2 year old can spend a day (which OP has). I have a 2 yo and at a minimum we need a long playground outing or walk to get through a day. She's a ball of energy.

Exactly! My 2 year old would spend about 15 minutes in a tent under the kitchen table before moving on to the next activity. It's also hard to get him to sleep after he's watched more than 30 minutes of a movie.

We all thrive when we're on the move.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m cracking up at all these people saying you should drive 4 hours RT to philly or Richmond just to entertain your kids for a day or two. People, it’s not that hard!

I was thinking the same thing. My kids are going to be at home most of the time. We’ll probably do a few outings around here but definitely not driving that far to fill every day with something new to do.

I’m the one who suggested the day trips. I stay home and do local outings everyday. If my kids are off for 2 weeks, we probably won’t just do local outings.

We get 2 weeks off. We are going to nyc to visit family for a few days, spend a week at home, probably do a day trip to liberty to ski and then we are going to the Caribbean for 5 days.

During the week at home, we will probably do play dates with friends and local outings including a day trip to Baltimore.

Do you ever just...spend a whole day at your house? Playing with toys, imaginary play, board games, baking, etc.? I admit I totally judge people who cannot just chill at home. It’s like some sort of compulsion or mental illness.

Nope. Your family sounds low energy. We like to be active.

It also sounds like you are rude. What you call active some people might call frenetic. It’s important to know how to just BE in a space or place. The ability to enjoy a day that isn’t planned from waking to bed is a valuable one. Most people don’t get to slow down these days, don’t sneer at those who want to take advantage of it. Be active and leave the rest of us alone to enjoy a work-life balance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For me I was so glad to have my children home and we could be a family not going this way and that. It wasn’t filling the time it was just a joy to have the time. We could sleep late, eat fun breakfasts at 10 am or later if we wanted. They could help with the meals and we could have hamburgers for breakfast if we wanted. IT WAS TIME OFF. We could enjoy being a family.
We did things for our neighbors; rake an elderly neighbor’s yard, or make cookies and deliver them, make up silly songs, read Christmas stories or stay in our PJ’s and have a movie marathon. We built a tent under the kitchen table and “camped out/in”.
Enjoy your children Mom. Make memories. Just love up on them and let them love up on you and let the world go by. It is Christmas. Celebrate the season. Blessings to you and your wonderful family.

This all sounds really lovely, but reallllly not how a 2 year old can spend a day (which OP has). I have a 2 yo and at a minimum we need a long playground outing or walk to get through a day. She's a ball of energy.

Anonymous wrote:For me I was so glad to have my children home and we could be a family not going this way and that. It wasn’t filling the time it was just a joy to have the time. We could sleep late, eat fun breakfasts at 10 am or later if we wanted. They could help with the meals and we could have hamburgers for breakfast if we wanted. IT WAS TIME OFF. We could enjoy being a family.
We did things for our neighbors; rake an elderly neighbor’s yard, or make cookies and deliver them, make up silly songs, read Christmas stories or stay in our PJ’s and have a movie marathon. We built a tent under the kitchen table and “camped out/in”.
Enjoy your children Mom. Make memories. Just love up on them and let them love up on you and let the world go by. It is Christmas. Celebrate the season. Blessings to you and your wonderful family.

Anonymous wrote:For me I was so glad to have my children home and we could be a family not going this way and that. It wasn’t filling the time it was just a joy to have the time. We could sleep late, eat fun breakfasts at 10 am or later if we wanted. They could help with the meals and we could have hamburgers for breakfast if we wanted. IT WAS TIME OFF. We could enjoy being a family.
We did things for our neighbors; rake an elderly neighbor’s yard, or make cookies and deliver them, make up silly songs, read Christmas stories or stay in our PJ’s and have a movie marathon. We built a tent under the kitchen table and “camped out/in”.
Enjoy your children Mom. Make memories. Just love up on them and let them love up on you and let the world go by. It is Christmas. Celebrate the season. Blessings to you and your wonderful family.