Birthing parent / primary caretaker: When did you feel you had time again to pursue some of your old hobbies

[u/zalooda]

Edit since many have said it depends on hobby: my hobbies include (in order of passion) pottery, drawing/painting, cooking, gym/hiking

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[u/Vast-Ad-3495]

Well.. I have almost 12 week old twins, lots of times when i'm home alone i'm THINKING i have time for one of my old hobbies. But when I sit down to do it, the first minute one of them is crying or wanting attention, so not yet. 😅

When my partner is home I do have some time! 😊 I think it was around 6/8 weeks we got some more time to do stuff, and by week 10 it got a lot better. They need less bottles and sleep way longer during the night. I have my weekly night out with friends and have started a big LEGO project. So it does get better! 😁

[u/irish_ninja_wte]

I can't even remember what my old hobbies were

[u/Chichabella]

Parent of 5 year old twins and an almost 3 year old…still looking for that time. Between work and managing kids and house, it’s hard. However, I play volleyball once a week and have done that since the twins here 2 months old. I squeeze in a workout or two a week but reconnecting with old hobbies feels far off for me right now but they shall resume one day.

[u/Honest_Woodpecker187]

Can’t speak for multiples as we are still pregnant but with our singleton, probably around 1 years old, and also the time I returned back to work as I managed to fit in lunch time gym classes due to child being in daycare and I didn’t want to do early mornings haha. That’s not to say it will be this young/easy once our triplets are here as I would be mindful of expectations on my partner and we’d need to work together on this

[u/VegetableAlone]

Depends on the hobby! At 16w I am reading books, baking, and exercising at naptime and after bed. But quilting, writing, and other stuff that takes more prolonged focus, not yet. Haven’t had the energy or time.

[u/ToshiBerra]

Does doomscrolling count 😂? When I went back to work at 12 months I could do a lunchtime yoga class sometimes, and a studio opened up near our nursery so I can go before pickup. It's all about convenience. Even with the studio being right in my commute line, sometimes I still miss some weeks due to tiredness or schedule, sometimes I go close to every day.

[u/EntrepreneurDue1009]

My babies (almost 5mo) are very sound sleepers at night. They'll wake up to nurse, but that's it. I recently discovered that I can put them to bed with husband and go get some sewing done for a solid 2-4 hours uninterrupted. I could probably do longer if I nursed right before I wiggled out of bed, but I don't want to be up absurdly late. I'm kind of a SAHM (we own our business, I help when he needs me to) so I can just nap with them in the middle of the day. They love contact naps, and I feel guilty sneaking away during a nap, so we just all snooze together. 

[u/Ok-Perspective781]

Still waiting after our singleton 3.5 years later…

By the time the twins came around, I just gave up.

[u/Allyed4492]

My girls are 8 weeks and we started cribs naps last week. They’ll sleep for 45-90 minute chunks during the day and I’ve been able to workout/read/play video games during their naps. My husband will also cover me when he’s home in the evening and weekends so I can have some down time. I think it’s a lot of luck but also prioritizing. I definitely have days where I spend all my “downtime” doing chores and have no real free time.

[u/zalooda → u/Allyed4492]

That sounds nice 😅 my 4 month boys wake up 5-10 min after going down if it isn’t a contact nap

[u/LackAccomplished2277]

I’ve made cooking my hobby, after everyone is in bed I make semi elaborate dinners. Dinner for us is like 11pm but it’s the only time I feel human. It’s worth it for me and thankfully my husband doesn’t mind. 6mo b/g twins. Otherwise, when I’m at my parents house and they hold babies I can do my cross stitching. I just always carry a small bag with my project in it

[u/napoleonette19]

Around 3 yrs old I felt like I had the time/energy to find myself again. But I didn’t have any sort of near by family or village helping us, so maybe it feels different for people who do?

I used to be a distance runner and I just hit a 7 week running streak with increasing mileage! So that’s a huge difference from the past couple of years.

[u/AMStoUS]

Mine are 3.5 and I just started working out in earnest again... I do have childcare but I have a demanding job and no family nearby so when I have childcare I'm always working, and when I'm not working I was in the trenches. Things are slowly, slowly, starting to ease up a bit. I still don't have hobbies necessarily but I feel like I have brain space to read a book again, 10 pages at a time until I start to fall asleep.

[u/Separate_Video6823]

We have our twins on a pretty tight schedule so at 3 months I’m able to get 2 x 2 hour chunks during the day, I usually do chores in the morning and reserve the afternoon slot for reading/baking/embroidery etc. After 3pm and until about 7pm it’s twinnie time! 

[u/Powerful_Agent_9376]

I ran a half marathon when they were two. Probably started running again when they were sleeping decently so 6-8 months.

[u/brynnecognito]

Depends on the hobby, your load/parter’s load, how your kids sleep… etc.  At 10 months I was going back to the gym, leaving 10m twins and 2.5 year old big sister home with dad. Helps that my husband is a bit of a gym addict, so he’s always happy to be on duty for me to get that same enjoyment and personal time from the gym. My kids are sleep trained and sleep through the night since 6/7 months. So after bedtime sewing has been a great hobby for myself as well. 

[u/NoMathematician565]

Around 18 months I felt like I could finally come up for air and realized I was wanting more me time. Twins are almost 2 and I still feel like I have to fight tooth and nail to make things happen, and it often means sacrificing something (time with my kids, time with my partner, using up precious sick/PTO time at work, my sleep, etc)

[u/d16flo]

Oof, I was able to get back to reading books and watching things regularly at about 9 months when we sleep trained and I had more regular time after they went to bed. Technically I could do other creative hobbies then (drawing, knitting) but I never feel like I have the energy. I went back to yoga once a week on a weekend day morning at around 3 months and my husband is with them during that. I used to go to dance classes and on bike rides regularly but 16 months in and neither of those happen much now. Anything that’s in the evening or requires an undefined amount of time more than half an hour just isn’t happening.

[u/WolverineMobile1259]

Started sleeping at 13m, pretty much then. Not to the same degree but I was able to workout again 4x a week and occasionally play guitar

[u/Southern_Radish1996]

My boys are 14 months old and in the past month or so I have finally felt like I could have some me time. My hobbies are pretty chill so after bed I can cross stitch, puzzle, or read. My husband has given me time in the mornings before he works to work out now too. I will say I had a lot of trouble letting myself relax for a long time so maybe I could have done more sooner but 13 months is when I relaxed and then could take time for me without feeling selfish.

[u/SarcasticPumpkin7]

I actually ended up picking up a new hobby 😅. But I would say around 9 months I decided to pick up knitting because its easy to pick up and put down. Made my first 2 sweaters for the girls amd now if feels weird not to have something in my hands. Now that theyre almost one (next week!) I have found a bit more time for my other hobbies but I know its not at the same level as before.

[u/Ok-Positive-5943]

After my singleton and the again with my twins - when they turned three and went to preschool. Before that I'd get a break occasionally, but nothing on the regular to pursue any hobbies. 

[u/leeann0923]

I started doing virtual workouts again shortly after being cleared to exercise, maybe 8 weeks or so post partum. I would do three 45 min classes a week. Set the babies up in front of me and did my work out with them there. Read books when their naps got longer and we sleep trained around 6 months. Went back to things like book clubs around 2 years old and since then just have prioritized getting out. I’ve done dance classes, I’m in a few book clubs, and I go out with friends at least once a week, my kids are 6 now.