Last updated on June 25th, 2025 at 06:02 am

How to Deal with Mom Boredom

I think one thing no one prepared me for when it came to being home with my children was the boredom. Being home with your children seems to weirdly go back and forth between being incredibly stressful and being boring. You’re always interrupted, so you can’t really focus on anything else, but watching your children play or even playing with your children can be a little boring.

For example, if my toddlers are quietly playing with blocks, they’ll still want me to notice or comment every once in a while. This makes it difficult to start anything else but just watching them play with blocks still leaves me to my own devices. Hence, mom boredom. For a long time, my case was a little different because I was a work-from-home mom, but because of how I organized my schedule, I still had chunks of time when it was just childcare. So, here’s how I dealt with it.

Teach them to play independently

I think teaching your child to play independently is an essential part of relieving your own boredom. This way, you’ve created space for yourself, and you can do something that you’d like to do while they’re playing.

Not to mention, allowing them their own chance to be bored can be incredibly helpful for them to learn how to use their own devices to have fun. It gives them a chance to flex their imagination, and it can also create a more secure attachment because they don’t need you all the time. They can have fun on their own, which creates a better time for each of you. You’ll still want dedicated play time with them, of course. But independent play is crucial.

If you’re unsure how to encourage that independence, I’ve got a blog all about it.

Set up activities for them

I don’t think setting up activities for your kids is the be-all end-all. Especially because you want to give them a chance to learn how to play independently. However, having an activity set up can allow you some time to focus on something that relieves your boredom. If your child is truly engaged in an activity, you might get twenty minutes or so during which you can work on a project.

Engage your child in chores

This can be a great way to get things done around the house and make an activity of it with your child. Obviously, this depends on their age, but most toddlers can help with some sort of aspect of chores. I always recommend assuming competence when it comes to your children’s abilities and then adjusting if they need help.

Just so you’re warned though, this might mean chores take way longer to do. But you’re bonding with your child, teaching them how to engage in the home, and creating a space to do an activity together. This might help relieve your mom boredom because you’re activity engaging in a task that will take up that mental energy. Plus, things get done around the house!

Leverage your child-free time

If you’re able to work on your own projects or ideas during your free time, it makes it easier to engage with your children outside of that time. This is because you’re feeling more emotional and mentally fulfilled, which allows you to dedicate more time to playing with them without feeling bored. If you feel like you’re dedicating all of your mental energy all the time to your kids, it can be easy to zone out while playing with them. It also might make you feel resentful.

So, try and get some time to yourself during which you can start something that you find mentally engaging. Work it out with your partner so you can get a few hours to yourself or try to hire a babysitter for a three-hour block on the weekends, so you can have that space to breathe.

Avoid scrolling on your phone when you’re bored

Seriously, scrolling on your phone takes up mental energy, but doesn’t actually give anything back to you. It’s just preventing you from engaging with your brain and your child. It’s mindless and will actually increase your mom boredom in the long run for that reason.

Not to mention, it creates a situation in which your child is constantly seeing you scrolling on your phone, which isn’t great for them. It might make them feel like you’re not paying attention to them, which can be okay in small doses if you’re actually doing something. But if you’re just scrolling on your phone, they’re learning that behavior from you, and your phone can be incredibly engrossing, even if it’s not engaging your brain.

Which is not to say you should never scroll on your phone. Occasional scrolls are not bad. But if you find yourself constantly reaching for your phone whenever you’re bored, I would encourage you to pay attention to that behavior and redirect yourself if you can.

Have small activities on hand for yourself

Plan activities for yourself the way you would for your child. By this, I mean give yourself a project to think about so you have something to pick up when you’re bored and have ten minutes of space. This might look like an easy but engaging book or a knitting project. You might journal out your thoughts and ideas for a bit. It might even look like a bigger project that you want to execute but needs thinking through. Maybe you just want to go through cookbooks and plan out your dinners for the week.

The important part is that you want to have something you can easily grab and engage with for ten to twenty minutes at a time that preferably does not involve your phone.

Stay present in the moment

I think sometimes mom boredom can be relieved by simply, truly engaging in what’s going on around you. For example, I love taking my kids on walks and just listening to the birds and looking around. This allows me to ground myself, and keeping myself in the world helps make me feel better. Plus, it gets us outside of the house, and it gets me some exercise, which is obviously incredibly beneficial to my physical and mental health.

If you’re with your child, try to notice the milestones they’re hitting. If they’re just playing with you, take a second to think about how far they’ve come and how cute they are. Take a moment to enter their world and see things from their perspective. On top of being eye-opening and even fun, this can keep you engaged in the present and ground you in reality.

Mom boredom is so real, and it can feel really frustrating. But a mixture of these tips can help prevent it and make engaging with your children that much easier. The important pieces are giving yourself space for your own projects and engaging with the world around you and your child.