Anti shitycles

Sometimes I get myself in such a rut. I convince myself I am prime contender for worst mum of the year award. The reason for this....because the boys and I sometimes end up in a shitty cycle or as I like to call it a shitycle. The cycle goes, and don’t judge me. Play with your toys, tablet or TV.

The shitycle leaves us without seeing the sky or breathing fresh air. I feel awful when we end up in the midst of a shitycle, I feel like I am letting my children down because I am failing to stimulate their little spongy brains. More importantly they get bored which results in tears and usually they end up fighting with each other, or teaming up and fighting me.

 A shitycle seems to be brought on by an attack of awful weather. I mean the only mums who can spur themselves on to go out for a stroll in the rain just to get out of the house are imaginary mamas.....or am I just a bit crap?

I also find when your strapped for cash a shitycle is usually imminent. There are loads of theoretical things to do, but the minute your bank balance becomes unhealthy your mind goes blank. Why is that, you know there is loads of free days out but all you can think of is a cbeebies marathon.

So I decided to get together 7 days worth of anti shitycle ideas, otherwise known as the cure for kiddie cabin fever. Enjoy.

1. Take a trip to the garden centre. There’s loads to see that costs nothing at all. Take a stroll around the plants and then check out all the garden ornaments. My boys love the animal ones and are quite happy to spend time walking around naming them.

Mr S named the stork in this picture, moose. Weird imagination this kid!

2. If your stuck inside, crack out the paints.  My two love painting anything.  A picture, one of those pot painting sets, we’ve even been know to paint old toilet roll tubes.  Places like Quality Save and B&M always have cheap craft sets. Even better when they can be seasonal, for example  we made valentines hearts this week and will paint eggs at Easter.

3. If painting is just too much mess for you then play dough is the answer. Every child loves play dough. For even more cheap fun, make your own. We use 2 cups of flour, 2 cups of salt and then add water gradually until you have the right texture and consistency. You can also add food colourings if you want to have more fun.

4. Go to the park. If your not sure where your nearest one is, simply go on the Interweb and the little people in the screen will tell you. If your lucky, like us, your local parks may have more to offer than a slide and swing. We also have a petting zoo where we can spend a good hour, a duck pond to feed the ducks and a very reasonably priced land train. We take a packed lunch and make a full day of it, because no one wants to pay cafe prices .

5. Baking is always good, mainly because you get to eat whatever you make. If like me cracking an egg into a bowl is as far as your baking skills go,( seriously Mary Berry would be ashamed of me), then just buy a ready made kit where you simply add an egg, or even easier make jelly or rice Krispie cakes. Everyone loves a rice Krispie cake. Supermarkets own Krispies are less than £1 and there’s always some chocolate on offer. The only down side is when you accidently eat all the cakes while the kids are in bed, then they want one the next morning. Cue guilty mama face, although it’s not my fault I was born with zero will power.

6. Indoor play. You don’t have to look far. Indoor play areas seem to be spreading faster than the kids Nutella on my toast, shhhhh don’t tell my kids. There is a huge bonus to taking the kids to an indoor play centre. By the time you leave the kids will be so worn out they will have a really good nap, the downside, you will need a nap too. I honestly don’t need to do a workout when I have climbed, crawled and ran around one of those places.

7. Have an indoor picnic. Turn off the technology, put a picnic blanket on the floor and pack up the picnic basket. If you want to make it even more fun, make it a teddy bears picnic. Have pom bears and honey sandwiches, read we’re going on a bear hunt and then work your way around the house looking for a hidden bear. Bring your favourite teddy’s and finish it all with a teddy bear sing-song.

So there it is, my 7 day course of anti-shitycle’s. Take one a day and things should feel better soon. The only possible side effect of taking my ideas is happy little cubs, and who doesn’t want that.

If you have any more shitycle ideas, don’t be selfish, please share them below, I’m always looking for new things to do because let’s face it, the weathers always crap and I’m usually skint a week after payday.

Good day to you x