Do you actually *stay at home*? - Page 3

[Ceili]

We live in a small condo on the water with no where outside that is safe to play (our neighborhood is mostly retired adults and families with much older children).

We're out of the house every morning. We go to playgroup, storytime and baby gym, none of which are really structured. The kids are free to roam around and play and most of the mobile ones do. Heath enjoys being around people and so do I. I get stir crazy if I have to stay home for more than a day or so.

We stay home in the afternoon. We nap and eat at home most days. In the evening we frequently go out again. My dso works late, so Heath comes with me to the theatre where I volunteer and to meetings of the clubs I belong to.

[nikirj]

We usually stay at home one day a week, to have some down-time. Other than that, we do get out every day, even if it is just sitting outside and rolling around the sidewalk on scooters. My kids go nuts if we stay in the house all day. That once a week really seems to help get them recharged though.

[cresorchid]

I have to laugh. I'm a total homebody so my son and I are at home most of the time. Despite this, I try to set up events where we get out of the house at least once a week for whatever reason. And being a homeschooling parent, it means that we are home LOTS.

Of course, homeschoolers face the same issue. Are they really HOMEschooling or just not sending their kids off to the public and private institutions? Some of them run from one activity to another constantly.

I try to be home in the mornings to do schoolwork with my son. In the afternoons, I get household chores, etc. done. At least once a week I try to meet up with one friend or another and there are lots of groups to choose from. We also belong to a homeschool group which takes regular field trips. They have 1-2 a month which are a nice change of pace, but not too much for us.

[bwylde]

We stay at home most of thetime. I just find it so hard to go out with the both of them. When the weather gets nicer, we'll start going to parks and walks more. Once a week we have playgroup and we usually get out as a family once or more a week but generally home most of the time. I'm a total homebody.

[btlsmum]

We spend a lot of time at home. If we do go out it's to the grocery or to the park. When DH is home on Weds we try to go somewhere for a bit such as to the museum, etc.

But really, we don't run about a lot.

[Village Mama]

I don't drive at all. ( I don't have a licence) I live in a small town though, and I get out every day. We walk to the post office and playground every day. Some days we do the 10 k round trip to the lake. we go to playgroup 2 days a week. I really don't enjoy taking the bus into the larger town close to us. The bus schedule often makes the trip into a 5 hour ordeal! With a tired 3 and 1 1/2 year old on a stuffy bus on the way home( the busses windows don't open, and they have that gross recycled air conditioning) It is rarely worth it! Mostly though I am home from noon on, trying to convince the boys that they need to nap And me doing prep for dinner and such. I get harassed for not driving all of the time. People say that it would make my life so much easier and more enjoyable. I think it will get easier with time. My 3 year old shouts " wohoooo! Lets... slow... down!!!!" We enjoy seeing all of the details KWIM?!

[angel04345]

We are home four days a week right now! The only reason we go anywhere is because I have prenatals! Then it will be back to never leaving! Infact when we do go out its because of docs apmnts anyways! Its a pain to get the car since I have to get dd up and drive my husband to work. We have two cars but the other isn't registered or insured so we can't use it but it works and its so annoying! : But we still wouldn't go anywhere gas prices are just unsightly!

[Bearsmama]

We tend to be homebodies, too. Although, for my own sanity, we do run around a bit a few days a week doing errands, going to cool parks, the bookstore, etc. But many days are like today-we did absolutely nothing. I mean we read, played, I did some laundry, played outside, etc. But we didn't really "leave the house". We don't have many scheduled things throughout the week. Actually, just one-my playgroup meets 1x/week. But pretty much, that's it. And sometimes I WISH we had more to do.

[treemom2]

We only have one car in our family, so I am home with the kids most of the time during the day--except Fridays we go to a group from 10-11 then if it is nice we will stop at the park for an hour or so on the way home. When DH gets home from work, I usually need to get out of the house for at least an hour so we will go to the park or grocery. Weekends, if they are nice, we usually are out at the river or the park--we try to be outdoors as much as possible enjoying nature!

[mykidsmama]

I am almost always home but we do have at least one planned just for fun outing every month!

[RubyWild]

Mondays are crazy days for us with preschool, dance class, playgroup, and then library storytime. Otherwise, there's preschool on two other days and not a whole lot else other than shopping and maybe lunch out. My daughter and I love mother/daughter lunches of soup and salad or an Indian buffet.

I feel like right now, except for a crazy monday for these 6 weeks, our days are fairly well balanced between home and the outside world.

[Heffernhyphen]

When I got pregnant (FINALLY at 38!), I knew I'd stay home, so I called a sah dad friend and offered my babysitting services if he ever went back to the office. That way, I could be with my baby all day and earn a few bucks for Cheerios. For the past two years, they've used me for 15 hours a week so he could get a break, but now it is about to mushroom into 40 hours (the sah dad is going back to work). So we're trying to plan a semi-schedule with an out-of-the-house activity every morning (library, park, zoo, etc.), lunch, nap, "school" (I'm a former Kindergarten teacher so I'll be doing a mini home school thing), recess (outdoor play), snack, then video and chill out till folks get home. I'm thinking it'll be great, but I'd love input from you in the field.

Thanks,
Susan (Mom to Daniel, 20 months, and babysitter to Ethan, 18 months, and Conrad, 3)

[mags]

We are big homebodies. Right now joshua takes swim class once a wk, but we are not involved in any other scheduled playgroups. After swim class, he's going to be in musikgarten class twice a wk. Otherwise, my DH and I are REALLY anal about joshua's nap schedule. There is a reason why everyone thinks joshua is a great baby... it's b/c he gets plenty of sleep and doesn't get dragged all over the place for errands when he should be at home.

We do take him out for short errands here and there and if we go on day trips, we try to plan on the travel time around his naps (he'll nap in the car). Typically, if DH or I need to run a lot of errands, one of us will stay home to babysit while the other one goes out. I'm pregnant right now too, and it's hard lugging around a 15 mo old unnecessarily. Now that the weather is nice, we try to take joshua outside to play in our yard at least once a day, he'll probably want to play outside more often as he gets older and walks around better.

[Wacky Mommy]

Out and About

We do best with one or two playdates a week, usually here cuz our house is comfy. We go to the science museum once a month or so? Children's museum every other month, maybe. Playgroup occasionally; one or two classes a week for 3-year-old; half-day kinder for 5-year-old, five days a week.

Oh, and the 3-year-old's nap schedule was thrown off (and he quit taking naps soon after) once my daughter started school (her pick-up time is right during the middle of his preferred naptime). He's OK with it, but I miss the break! He sleeps 12 hours every night to make up for it.

[RileysMomma]

We generally stay home during the week. Weekends, at our house, are the time to run errands. DS and I (and my nephew, whom I care for during the week) have a routine established, and I truely don't like to stray from that routine.
That being said, I would love if there were playgroups we could join, but unfortunately, around these parts (read...middle of nowhere) there just isn't much to do.

I do get flak from friends that I don't "Get out with the kids enough" Whatever that means!

[my2girlsmama]

You're not a homebody at all. I totally agree with you. In fact, I find our little *scene* starts to erupt if we don't stay home a few days a week. I am a busy on the go type person as is...even though I complain to Dh about having so much to do etc, I do thrive on it.

That said, my kids are high needs and I have to constantly be up for them, so while being out and on the go is good for the most part, and they adjust nicely, I can catch the eruptions pretty fast and easily note when a *stay at home day* is truly needed, at very least twice a week. My oldest who is 5 actually suggest we stay in pjs....and she does! :