I have been a stay at home mom for three years and I loved being able to do that. My husband works his butt off for me to be able to stay at home with our kids. The thing is we have been on the same page with everything. Recently though my husband’s job changed and he works Monday-Friday 7am to 5pm. Not to bad but I decided to stop having him really help clean the house up or make dinner those types of things because I wanted him to be able to come home spend time with the kids and just relax from it all. I don’t mind doing it all. It’s actually a lot better doing it this way. I’ve noticed he helps out without me having to ask or nag at him to do something. Unlike before where I had to constantly remind him of his “chores”.

He decided to go back to school (on the computer) to help bring in some more money eventually. In about two years he will be making some good money. I told him if it was going to interfere with his time at home or spending time with his kids I would honestly prefer me to go get a job than him going back to school. Don’t get me wrong I love my kids, I just would rather me be away and bring in more money than me being the only one taking care of our kids while my husband is constantly gone. This way our kids could get time with me and their husband on the weekends. But my husband had promised me he wouldn’t let it interfere to much and he will make sure he’s helping out. So far the plan is to spend an extra hour after work to do school work and then an hour after the kids go to bed.

Well he has also decided to go hunting or shooting on Saturdays. He’s gone from 6am to 12pm. I told him I didn’t mind he went hunting or shooting once in a while because I know it’s important to get out of the house away from everything and just simply be able to relax. Well this past month of him going every Saturday has been a lot for me. I feel like he’s just constantly gone and everything is falling on me and I feel like I can never get a true break myself. My husband’s last job made him be away for long periods at a time where I was completely by myself with the kids for months at a time. It’s starting to feel like that again but in a way where he is here but not at the same time. I’ve tried to talk to my husband about this and he said that it’s just him having a hobby and that’s a normal thing. He thinks it’s not his fault that I don’t have a hobby so I wouldn’t understand. The thing is i don’t care if he goes out once in a while for this hobby but it’s every weekend that I’m caring about. Or maybe he’s right and I wouldn’t care about him going out every weekend if I’m doing the same thing. If I’m doing the same thing though when would we as husband and wife have time to connect with each other?

What should I do? Should I try to get him to understand that he shouldn’t be going out every weekend or should I be getting a hobby as well?

Find yourself in the hospital for a few days...

As always a pain I said I would get looked at when I had time became too much one night I found myself in the ER that ended up a hospital stay and removal of my gallbladder. I have 2 kids, 5 and 11 months and never really realized how much I do all day and who depends on my labor until I was in the hospital for 5 days. My 5 year old is on the spectrum and cannot sleep alone and my 11 month old is going through an amazingly timed sleep regression. So my parents have been helping my husband throughout the day. It took 3 people to coordinate childcare, school stuff, household needs, etc to do what I do everyday. I've been home for 2 days and not allowed to lift anything more than 10lbs so still need a lot of help and will never doubt what I do again. My family depends on my labor to function, including extended family, and I will now request time off for the future to rest so this never happens again!

So I’m kinda of a stay at home mom. I work part time fully remote for a very flexible job, very little meetings. I do still plan on putting my baby in part time care when he will be 5.5 months. We have a spot at the daycare 3 days a week.

I am very anxious about it because I’ve heard babies have a terrible time adjusting to part time care, but maybe I just read about the bad stuff online because no one comes to report when their baby does fine?

So I’m looking for positive stories of babies in part time care. How long did it take your baby to adjust, and what was the adjustment like? I have the flexibility of choosing whatever days of the week I want, so am also curious what days your child goes.

What are we doing when our kids are all in school full time? Going back to work? Back to school? Rotting on the couch in the quiet? 😂

I’m sure I will enjoy the peace and quiet at first but I’ll get board of that pretty quickly. I currently workout / run 6 days a week. I have other hobby’s I could do to fill time. I know I will still have house work, grocery shopping and running kids to sports to do as well. But I feel like getting a job would be nice as well.

We are fortunate enough to have my husband’s job provide for our family so I don’t have to go back to work. But having something that gives me a little spending money and adult interaction might keep me from going crazy at home lol.

Not really too big issue cuz I have legs but my 3yo son is fascinated with hiding gadgets. He hid our Roku remote a month ago. I've looked literally everywhere, took apart the couch, looked under every cabinrt bookshelf and table, inside every toy bin, even in his stroller. Got Nothing. We bought another one, and that one's gone missing again.

Two days ago, the baby monitor went missing too. The comfyer camera only works with its own screen. So now the whole unit is pretty much useless...

My wife and I spent an hour searching the house yesterday after he went to bed. But failed. I seriously woner where he's hiding all this stuff. Where did you end up finding all those missing stuff... PLEASE HELP

Nothing new to say, just ranting that yikes, the newborn and toddler combo is about to do me in. I have a 3-month-old seriously frustrated by the fact that she can only roll one way and so the second you set her down she is screaming furiously and of course the toddler screams from toddler frustration plus she has a speech delay so her communication is not great... I am baseline a really calm and regulated person but yikes, lately I feel like 10 minutes into two screaming kids and I am just absolutely over it and done. It just really sucks be unable to attend to both of them and help them regulate down at the same time and have to pick and choose who gets my attention and help.

Being the only adult in the house means every decision lands on me—what to cook, when to schedule appointments, how to handle my 4-year-old's sudden refusal to wear socks. The small stuff piles up fast. I used to work in HR and thought I was decent at compartmentalizing, but parenting alone hits different. There's no one to tag in when your brain is fried.

I've been building small side projects during nap times and early mornings, which means even more decisions. Feature priorities, which AI tool is worth the time, whether to ship now or polish more. It keeps me sane having something that's just mine, but the context switching is brutal some days.

I'm genuinely curious how other solo parents here manage the constant decision fatigue. Do you have systems that help or is it just survival mode until bedtime? I've tried batching choices—picking outfits and meals the night before—and that helps some. But the mental noise never really stops.

The quiet hours after the kids are down are the only time I can hear myself think. Except by then I'm usually too drained to make good use of it.

I am a SAHM to a 3.5 year old and a 5 month old. We live in a super cramped tiny house and husband has been wanting to move for thr last 1.5ish years. It’s definitely increased since baby #2 arrived. I’ve always been against it since as a SAHM I have a big community and support system nearby. Absolutely love our neighborhood and neighbors. My 3.5 year old has several neighbor friends around, and I’ve developed a very close friendship with another mom that lives across the street: our kids are friends, she’s a huge support system, and all around it’s just a good situation. Our community is walkable: I can walk to coffee shops, library, grocery store, several parks. Our mortgage and interest rate are crazy low. I am incredibly happy and content.

My husband has been wildly supportive of my preference to stay, but I’m also trying to be respectful to him and his needs. A move would mean it’s closer to his work (we’d leave the city we’re in, cannot afford more space in our city as it’s very expensive), closer to both sets of grandparents who are very involved, and more space, which is ultimately what he wants. However, we would leave our city: the walkability, neighbors, low mortgage, and head to the suburbs.

As a SAHM, so much of my daily life and happiness is wrapped up in our neighborhood and tiny house. I know we’ll eventually have to move, I just don’t feel ready (esp 5 months postpartum). However, interest rates are rising, the housing market here is getting more challenging, and yes, after baby #2, we are cramped.

Curious, as a SAHP, would you move?

I have a vegetarian kid, a dairy free partner, and a youngest who eats roughly six foods. Sorting by meal type or cuisine does nothing for us, because the question every night is who can eat this, does anyone organize recipes by category around people instead of food? I mean, Is this common? please do not be a picky eater.
If you have experienced something similar, would you lmk what can help me?

My 8 year old seems tired when bedtime comes but once they’re in bed they get restless and chatty and take a long time to fall asleep. They wake up cranky and moody and during the day they keep complaining that they’re sleepy.

Their pediatrician said there’s nothing health-wise to be concerned about which is reassuring but I still wonder if this pattern is normal for their age. I’m not sure whether I should keep working on our bedtime routine or dig into it further.

How long does it usually take your 8 year old to fall asleep? Have you found anything that helps them settle and feel more rested in the morning? 

I don’t think he meant it as an insult. We were talking about weekdays and weekends. He’s just started kindergarten and is having a hard time getting used to the 5-day school week (up from 4 half days in preK). He goes to school, his dad goes to work, I “stay home” with his toddler sister, and I think he’s jealous of that. He wants to be home playing too and hadn’t really registered that what I do is “work”. It’s not really about me. That said, the phrasing is hurting a bit, especially as I’m trying to figure out my role now that he’s in school. I’m still with my toddler, so it’s not like I have loads of free time now. But the toddler is a lot more independent than my oldest, he’s getting more independent now that he’s in school, and I do feel less needed. My husband and I both value what I do, but it occurs to me that I might need to explain it more to my kids as they get older. I don’t like feeling defensive about it.

My son sprained his ankle last week and he's been pretty upset, as his favourite cousin who he hasn't seen in a long time will visit us tomorrow with his parents. He's mostly in bed and although he can walk by himself (e.g. to the bathroom), he's so disappointed that he won't be well enough to play their favourite games out. I suggested playing cards or draw, although i knew damn well the look he'll give me!

So here i am, asking for you all to drop your cool and non-boomer ideas (looks like i can't) so i can impress my son and lift his spirit and most of all see him have a great time now that his cousin will come.

I had a conversation with my husband and he said that there is nothing between us. I said I don’t feel like he likes me at all. In response, he only said that I am a great mom. He said we don’t have fun together even when we have a chance to go out together. I said if we split up, I’d have to leave the state and be closer to my family. He only asked why I couldn’t stay in the state.

The plan was for me to stay home with our son and go to school then go back into the work force. I’m in school now and not working. I don’t really know what to do with that information. He just started acting ‘normal’ afterwards. I’m obviously not in a financial situation to leave soooo yeah I’m just at a loss and my husband’s very avoidant so talking to him isn’t providing clarity. I guess this is just a rant but if anyone’s been through something similar, please weigh in.

My husband has a good paying job we got savings and I still feel like puking every time a bill is due. It wasn’t like that last year. But now I feel like everything is way more expansive.

This thread is for:

• Sharing your art and craft ideas for doing at home
• Sharing your completed arts and crafts for inspiration
• General arts and crafts chit-chat

Please be respectful of others in the discussion.

Photos in comments should now be enabled for easier sharing of your art and craft work!

I am convinced that our role reversal has us completely screwed up. I’m not saying only a mom can be the stay-at-home parent, but clearly, stay-at-home dads are in the vast minority. I am one of them. I feel that my role reversal is killing me.

I don’t know if anybody else can weigh in on this, but when you have a working parent and a stay-at-home parent, and the working parent is the father and the stay-at-home parent is the mother, I feel like there are clearer lines.

The dad goes to work. The mom runs the household and parents. I have a working wife who makes all the money. I’m the stay-at-home parent. I’m a stay-at-home dad. I run the household. I parent the kids when my wife’s working. She obviously parents them when she’s not working, but I’m the default parent. I’m the food parent. I’m the sole driver.

So I end up doing everything: all the errand running, all the grocery shopping, all the food prep, all household maintenance, chores, cleaning, trash, everything.

Now, what I don’t understand with my role reversal is that my wife also wants to have a say in what I do. She doesn’t just get up and leave and go to work in the morning. COVID changed a lot of this with working from home. She sometimes works from home, but also works from the office now.

However, my wife always wants to have a say in what I’m doing and how I’m doing it. I feel like if the roles were reversed, the dad would leave, go to work, and he’d have nothing to do with what’s going on in the house. He wouldn’t be texting his wife 25 times a day with to-dos: Can you do this? Can you do that? Questions, updates, etc.

It would be a way more clear-cut line if our roles weren’t reversed. And this is what’s killing me.
My wife should be sleeping. She has work in the morning. She has an intense job. Instead, she comes upstairs to the kids’ room, where I’ve just read one of the kids to bed because she was finishing up work after reading one of the other kids to bed.

And she’s going on and on and on about how the kids’ room is a mess, and this needs to be cleaned up, and I need to do it, and I need to get the kids to do it, and this needs to be done tomorrow, and it shouldn’t be like this.

And I just feel that, yes, of course she can have a say in stuff. It’s her home as well. But I feel that with a stay-at-home parent, it’s like the stay-at-home parent takes care of all of that. The working parent, if it was the dad, would not be, at midnight, having a conference with the wife saying, “You need to clean up this room.” I just feel like that doesn’t happen. A working dad would never say this or even devote his energy to it.

Can any other stay-at-home parents weigh in on this in any way?

I’m curious if this is a universal issue. I’m handling pretty much all mental load of running my home. I do all of the kids’ appointments, clothes shopping, meal planning, meal prepping, cooking, cleaning (we do get weekly help with this though), making sure kids’ stuff is put in the calendars, making sure kids have everything they need, etc.

I feel like it makes sense that I would handle all of this because my husband is working full time and this is basically my job, but I get really jealous of families that split drop off and pick up for school and have dads that are a lot more involved in the daily logistics.

I sometimes fantasize about going back to work just so that all of this doesn’t fall on me.