If you SAH, how many days/week do you actually SAH?

[WatchingThemGrow]

Just wondering...

I seem to need 1-2 days not ever leaving the house, just to fold the laundry, plan the meals, etc. I think the DC really enjoy all the toy time they get.

Any more than 2 and we're stir crazy - like during the weeks when someone is sick and we can't go to the gym nursery, to bible study, to kindermusik, etc.

Does anyone actually stay home more than 2 days a week - like no museums, no libraries, no groceries, etc.?

[maestramommy]

The only time we stay home the entire day is if the weather is too terrible, and I have absolutely no errands to run, and we've already gone to the indoor playground too recently. OR, we're waiting for something to be delivered/installed. Otherwise we are out all the time. I get the housework done when the kids are napping and after they go to bed at night.

[fivi2]

We usually leave the house at least once a day. Either morning or afternoon, sometimes both! I can't think of the last time we spent a full day at home.

However, my house is usually a big mess! I plan meals on the day I grocery shop - either Saturday or Sunday. Dishes usually get done at the end of the day after dinner. I throw a load of laundry in as needed. I am shamefully bad about putting laundry away!

eta: many of the places we go aren't exciting and don't cost money. We walk to the park if we have no other plans. We walk to most of our playdates. We have a museum membership and go there quite a bit. We almost never eat out - I either pack a picnic or we come home. If we do stay home, at least a couple hours are playing outside - rain or shine. My girls just get too crazy!

[SnuggleBuggles]

I think we probably have 1-2 days/ week that we are home the whole day during the week (not counting the weekend). I like those days. We did more of them over summer vacation with ds1 before ds2 was born. It was nice to just stay in our pjs and hang out. Ds2 and I are way too busy lately and I am looking forward to staying in a bit more.

Beth

[lizajane]

my kids are in school- schuyler all day in kindy and dylan at preschool from 9-12:30, so now, we leave the house everyday! but when they were not in school everyday-

we have to leave the house by 10am or ELSE. they turn into pumpkins. i have very energetic, active children who have a great need to climb, run, jump and "do." as dylan has gotten older, he has spent more time playing with his toys alone. he is very independent. but schuyler can't stand to be in the house for too long or he falls all to pieces.

i think it depends a lot on who your kids are as much as what you need. my oldest is just not a stay in the house all day child. but my youngest can handle it.

[egoldber]

In the past, we have gone somewhere or done something every day. I am actually trying to stay home more because it keeps me from needing to eat out or spend any money and since DH's job ends next month we are saving EVERY extra penny.

Amy goes to preschool 2 days a week though and I am now wishing I had signed her up for 3 days. She loves it so much. She is soooooo high energy and she just craves way, way more activity than I can give her. :( Sarah is like me and is content to be a homebody, although she likes to go out too. But Amy needs to be out and active at a whole other level and I just can't give her that.

Even if DH gets a job soon and I end up staying home vs going back to work, I may move Amy to 3 days a week of preschool in the spring and definitely 5 days next year.

[BeachBum]

The only time I have stayed home all day is when someone is sick. We would go totally bonkers. :)

[brittone2]

We are probably home at least 3 days a week, sometimes 4. I find it easier to establish a rhythm and keep DD's nap schedule consistent (I don't mind it being later, but then she's up until 11pm!). I also find if I don't leave the house, I'm less likely to spend $ frivolously on lunch out, Starbucks, random stuff at Target, etc. (eta: also saves gas money)

We grocery shop 1-2x a week (one big run, and then sometimes a 2nd trip to fill in w/ fresh produce). We usually go as a family because DD is so flipping active that she's hard to contain LOL. So it works better to have two adults to supervise two kids ;)

We go out to lunch or do something fun with my parents and the kids 1-2 days a week. Sometimes they take DS for the afternoon while DD is napping at home with me.

DD also is *still* a car hater. DS was a car hater until he was over 2. I'm hoping she gets past this soon. It ends up being more of a headache than it is worth to drive more than 15-20 mins with her. She's sometimes okay to go 30-40 mins but she isn't reliable. It is a PITB and limits my tolerance for driving around with kids.

ETA: I should also add that we go out a lot in the evenings as a family. We probably go out 3 evenings during the week and 1-2 evenings on the weekend (at least). DS doesn't go to bed until 9 and dd is more like 10, so we have time to head out in the evenings for errands, trips to the library, etc.

[elephantmeg]

I'm a part time mom and on the days I'm off we stay home probably 25%. Especially when gas prices were so high. DS doesn't like large crowds of people so story time etc don't go well, so we do the occasional playdate (maybe 1-2 a month), and then 2-3 days where we go to the gym (and they go to the play area there). I don't grocery shop with them. I go after I get off of work at midnight...

[CAM7]

We are home only if we are sick... or we've got a blizzard or roads are not driveable.

Once in a great while we'll stay home for no reason at all...but that doesn't happen too often.

I sign the kids up for some sort of class or activity for 3 mornings out of the week... this summer we had a planned activity every morning and it was too much.

[tylersmama]

We rarely stay home all day. Even if I don't have anything planned, we'll typically at least go to the playground or run to the grocery store. We have class one or two days a week, and usually the other days are spent running errands and/or working out. We go to the Y or DS goes in the Chariot while I bike/run. The few times that we have stayed home all day, I go nuts. DS just seems so much more needy when we're at home!

[mecawa]

We don't have one day where we don't leave the house at all (unless someone is sick, or because of weather conditions). This was different however when my DD was younger. She is in school now a few mornings a week so that is when I get a lot of the household chores done. Up until she was about 3-3 1/2, we were home probably 3 days a week. This will probably change again when DD#2 is born in Jan., because we will be back to feeding and nap schedules on top of everything else.

[clb]

We are out everyday unless sick or bad weather. At a minimum, we walk to the park so DS can walk around the playground. He is much happier when he gets out of the house. He was sick last week and we were in all week. It was not good.

[g-mama]

I cannot stay home for an entire day or I go nuts. Seriously. I wish sometimes that I could just relax and hang out with my kids more, but it's not my personality. When someone is sick and we are housebound, it makes me a little crazy and I try to get out in the evening when dh gets home.

Now that my 5-year-old goes to preschool every day, we have to go out every morning and pick him up at 1, so it's a given. But rarely do I take my 2yo and just go back home. We take some classes, go grocery shopping, go to the library, run errands, meet friends to play and/or have lunch. It does cause us to spend more money, for sure.

The fact that both my 5yo and 2yo still take naps every afternoon requires that we're home for several hours in the afternoon at least, and then when my 7yo gets home, we have a couple of days a week where he has after school activities so we're out again.

[Octobermommy]

I usually stay at home 1 or 2 days a week. I like being at home and just playing with the kids instead of out trying to run errands or what not.

[o_mom]

I've got two in preschool on opposite schedules, so we are driving to or from school at least 4 days a week, sometimes 5 depending on carpool. Probably 2-3 days I have something other than school that I/we do - shopping, playdates, etc. - but no set schedule.

ETA: Looking forward to next year when I will hopefully have them both on the same 3 day/week schedule and won't have to go out every day.

[s7714]

Before my older DD started K, we'd go 3 or 4 days in a row without leaving the house. Now that she's in school full time and my younger DD is in preschool 3 days a week, there pretty much isn't a day I'm not going somewhere. I loved having slow, lounge around the house days too. Guess it just makes me appreciate the weekends even more now.

[Gena]

We might stay home on a Saturday. Otherwise, we are out everyday. DS has preschool 4 days a week, speech therapy, OT, an autism playgroup, and swim class. We try to meet Hubby for lunch once a week. And I pick up my niece from school 3-4 days a week.

I do try to have a block of several hours at home every afternoon so I can do DS's at home ABA therapy.

[mamicka]

Besides the outings to drop-off or pick-up from school, we usually leave the house 1 other time during the week (m-f). Sometimes not at all. We play outside at home, sometimes with the neighbor kids. I guess we're in the minority. There's just so much to do here at home (fun for kids & work for me) I don't feel the need to leave.

[KpbS]

Besides the outings to drop-off or pick-up from school, we usually leave the house 1 other time during the week (m-f). Sometimes not at all. We play outside at home

This is us too. Not too much to do around here (other than go to the park which is just an ok park) or go grocery shopping. It is far easier to find time to go w/o the 2 than to go with and fill the cart to the brim.

[sarahsthreads]

*snort*

If you define "SAH" to mean actually "staying at home", then I'm actually a "LOOTC": a "live out of the car" mom. Between preschool 3 mornings/week, swimming 2x/week, dance once a week and other general activities (library, farmer's market, stopping in at the shop I co-own...) I swear there are days we aren't even home at all.

And yes, there are piles of unfolded laundry, clutter on every flat surface, and the floors haven't been vacuumed in a shamefully long time. Plus we eat out a lot. The result of trying to be a stay-at-home mom to a preschooler and an infant, and help run a shop at the same time!

Sarah :)

[JTsMom]

We go through stages. Lately, we've been home a lot, but now we're transitioning over into a go-go-go stage. I enjoy both, but I probably prefer being at home more. I rarely get bored at home, so I can easily do 3 or 4 days here if there aren't any errands that must get done. DS probably prefers being out more though, so I try to keep that in mind too.

[DrSally]

1-2. I need to get out with the kids for fun and errands, but like to have a down day where we don't have to rush out the door in the morning or rush home for naps.

ETA: it was a lot more when DD was first born and will prob be more again when winter really hits.

[C99]

Before my oldest was in school, we left the house daily to go on some kind of outing. Now, I leave the house every day, but sometimes it is just to run an errand or two.

[amldaley]

My dd is only 3 mos and we are nursing. We get out 1 or 2 days a week and stay home the rest. This could be because other than a walk in the neighborhood or the beach, I have to drive 30-45 minutes to get anywhere. No gymboree, kindermusik or even a park. So by the time she finishes nursing, we get ready to go, get there....she needs to nurse again. A trip to grocery shop may take 4 hrs round trip when book ended with nursings.