The Virtual Village - a space for parenting 'stuff'

Hi @Twinklelight @CheerBear

I agree its a great thread. A lot of us do post about daily jobs, feelings and issues. It has been interesting watching how that has evolved on the forum as people felt the need and start threads. Daily issues do change depending on where we are in the "life cycle". Whether its being single, a couple, elderly. As a mum of adult kids there is lots of spill over into the mundane and relationship stuff.

Hi @Twinklelight 🙂 Great to see you here!

Morning @CheerBear and anyone else around .... 👋💕

Thanks for the call-out. Mine are all grown into kidults and beyond now, but if I can help anyone else through the rapids of raising teens I am only too happy to.

Hi @Twinklelight, thanks for the shout out @CheerBear

What sorts of things help (or helped) you manage the demands of parenting and family life, on a day-to-day basis?

I am lucky to have an understanding hubby. Sometimes just getting them to school is enough. I drop them off and come home and fall into a slump. Some days I manage to get a few things done, other days just dropping the off and picking them up from school is enough.

When I have my good days, I try and cook a lot and freeze it all. That way when I have bad days then I can just go to the freezer and get out a healthy meal for them. Some days it all falls apart and they get there own dinner (mainly 2 min noodles). I find that if I have their basic needs met, then that makes me feel a bit better.

I have two hospital visits lately, one fore 2 weeks, one for 3 weeks. This is where my hubby steps up and I cannot thank him enough. I know lots of people do not have that extra support. Sometimes the best thing for them is for me to have some time away, especially when my SH/SI are really high.

We all do the best we can for our children. The things that tears me up the most is the guilt of my MI effecting my children and how mush they miss out on b/c I am like I am. I hate that gulit feeling that seems to be there all the time, and is hard to deal with.

I hope this post helps, could be just a ramble too!

Spaghetti bolognaise is one of my go-to meals. I keep the ingredients in the freezer, fridge and cupboard as a stand-by .... so if nothing else, we have spaghetti ready in half an hour, and nobody ever gets sick of it .....

Well currently I am not coping too well with any of it (Motherhood, single parenting, mental health issues) but we survive.

Things that have helped me are just strength and self belief when I think I can’t do it to be honest. Being organised makes me less stressed otherwise it’s chaos. I am not a great cook so I just try my best. My daughter is a fussy eater so at times dinner and meals are tricky.

@Twinklelightthe other thing I do is write down what I have acheived for the day. I got the idea from @Faith-and-Hope ages ago. One day it might be doing a lot, another day it might be getting out of bed, having a shower and eating something. Depending on the day I am having. Set yourself small managable goals.

Well done @Twinklelight on getting some meals cooked and spaghetti @Faith-and-Hope is such an easy one to do once you have it frozen!