I Need a hobbby..really I Do...

One of my hobbies is spending time at Barnes & Noble. It's one of my favorite spots. A nice cup of tea or cocoa and the whole store of books for my perusal. Sometimes I take work to do there too. :)

I'm also a member of Lifestyle Gym. I workout with the weights and elliptical, but I love going to the group classes too! Body Pump and Yogalates are my favorites.

Wow, I tend to start businesses as a hobby.. and then get them going and hand them off!! Drives my husband crazy.

I love to read (book club), to cook (catering and lessons), to cross stitch (Naughty Cross Stitching), jigsaw puzzles, photography.

Right now I am doing my holiday decorating for my clients. It started out as a hobby and grew into a business. I design The trees, the garlands.. I make custom wreaths.. etc..

Just think about what you really get enjoyment from..

Yoga is what 2 of my best friends started as a hobby and now they own 2 Yoga Studios!

Kayaking and travel are awesome.

Yes. I feel like that. So I bought a sewing machine. And I am REALLY excited to be learning how to use it. So far, though, it has just about turned into another "to do" item on my list... Trying to find uninterrupted time to learn how to sew is difficult at best. As any project will take several hours total. And I am a project do-er until it is done, kinda girl. Once I start on it, I don't want to put it down (to make dinner or whatever) until it is DONE. That doesn't work so very well in my life right now. :(

The only way to learn is to actually DO, so I am struggling with finding the right kind of small projects that I can do in a few hours tops. A little mending here or there mostly. But I am getting there. And it feels SO GOOD to finish something!

I love to read, too... but again... I like to read in big chunks of time, not 20 minute quickie reading. One of my favorite Christmases in recent years was also the worst. I was sick with a stomach flue (I mean TERRIBLE sick---was up all night vomiting on Christmas Eve---it started right after the kids went to bed after midnight mass). I hurt so bad and was so miserable. But I got a new book I wanted for Christmas. :)) PERFECT. I stayed in bed (alone--no kids running in 'cause hubby kept 'em out 'cause I was so sick) and read for 3 days straight!!!
Now I'm looking into learning how to effectively clean house as a hobby... ;)

Book club!
At least you'll read a book a month AND get out of the house for a fun evening. I love my book club. We started in Feb '03 and still meet each month.

Walking/Running
I started running last year (ok, calling it running seems like a stretch most days) and my partner - another mom - and I meet 3X a week at 5:30am. The time kills us but once we are up and out the door, it's great to have some moments to chat without kids or anyone else. And I adore the 5 minute drive I have to meet her as my own radio time. Before I started running, I walked my dog a few miles each day. Best personal time ever! After he passed away, I met a friend in the neighborhood for a walk a few times a week. Again, a chance to chit-chat and get some stress out. We would plan a week at a time but usually did evenings after the kids went to bed and were gone about an hour. We started in December of last year and even on frigid days we had a good time!

Mamapedia :) Seriously, I'm avoiding work right now by reading too many posts.

Art or Culinary or Wine Tasting class?

Volunteer! I volunteered at our children's hospital for 3+ years. It was an amazing experience and 24-hour hospitals need people all the time, not just during "business" hours.

Well, my hobbies are based off then thing available where I live when I live there (we are military so that changes often). Right now I take belly dance and kick boxing. Kick boxing is free at my church and has free child care! I love it! Belly dance is 25 dollars a month and hubby watches the kids.

Other hobbies have been knitting (which I still do), painting, sewing and hiking. It all matters on what is there.

No hobbies here. In fact I dislike the term. I have things I like to do, such as reading, swimming and diving, but I am a very busy person and just cannot commit to a 'hobby' as such. Calling things hobbies would make me feel guilty if I didn't do them for a while. Or I might, God forbid, have to join some sort of club. Not for me I'm afraid.

I don't know how you'd find time for a hobby. Just do what you really enjoy. Why isn't hiking practical? You could take the kids with you or not. You'll probably have to try out some things and see if they're for you or not. Theres nothing wrong with dabbleling. I've dabbeled in all kinds of things and got a feel for it, other things I've sunk into more. Do you like the arts, sports, handwork? Think about the things in life that you've been attracted towards but haven't tried. Let yourself venure.

Hi A., I was just discussing this with my husband the other day. I don't have a hobby either, other than reading. I love to read. But I also wish I had a hobby of something that I could do, that I could look at and go "wow, look what I did". I just haven't found it yet I guess. You are not the only one out there!!!! I thought over the winter time, I would actually get all my old photographs, and make books with them, since my huge box of pictures has been driving me crazy for like 20 years!!!

I make bead jewelry - simple necklaces and earrings. It's fun, I have a lots of cool stuff I can wear myself, or give as gifts, or sometimes sell. I've thought about taking up knitting, maybe over the winter. I have some friends that make jewelry, others that knit, and some that are into scrapbooking. I never got much into the scrapbooking but I do like to decorate picture mats and magnet picture frames with the stickers, and last year I used rubber stamps to make our own Christmas cards.

Every mother feels the same! There are not enough hours in the day!

One thing I wish I would have taken up as a young mother is scrapbooking my family photos. I never took care of my photos, and they were a mess! Now, I do the digital albums but mostly still do the traditional albums for my family, where I journal my thoughts and feelings next to my children's photos. I have about 3- 4 albums per child. The are all in their 20's now.

The problem about waiting 'til later, is that I forgot so many details about the photos: the event...who was in them....so I encourage mothers to "record" their family "history" in scrapbook albums, to be passed down from generation to generation. PM me if you have any questions how to get started!

Good luck to you! Sounds like you are an awesome mom!

I dance cuban salsa and bachata, classes are at 9.30pm till 11pm once or twice (as i wish) a week, so I go after putting my son to bed, this way my mother (night sitter) doesn't have to do anything, just stay there while he's asleep. Dancing is a great exercise and self esteem enhancer, I don't need to go to the gym to keep in shape (I don't really like the gym) AND I actually can dance if the opportunity arises...which is sexy and fun. Try!

Seriously,mamapedia counts, it's a full time hobby!!

considering all the time you are spending in the car running the kids around, maybe you could work something into that. Like walking the track while they are at soccor? an audio book? knitting is portable.
I"m sure we would love to know if you find somethign appealing.

I just read your post. I know, you wrote it 6 months ago, but that's how behind I was on some of my Mamapedia emails. Anyway, maybe hobbies are still something you're thinking about. Did you find one or two for yourself?

Call it a hobby and it's just another obligation in my book. I call it "doing what I like to do". And when it's not fun anymore, I stop doing it. Below are a few things I like to do.

--BOOK GROUP is a must in my life. I've been doing this for 8-9 years now. It keeps me reading and talking with friends at least once a month. It helps me to get outside of my life. And each December we go out to dinner someplace. Sometimes we even talk about the books! Go figure!
--GARDENING gets me outside and makes our yard look nicer and/or feeds our family. If your kids are up for it, it can be a fun activity for them as well, especially when they're little. But I mainly do it for my own pleasure. (I haven't succeeded in getting our 15 y.o. son to participate lately. At least he likes the results in the end. : P)
--WALKING (not as often as I'd like...gotta up the ante on this one!) gets me outside and works those muscles that gardening doesn't.
--"WE" GROUP (WE = Women Empowered in Work and Life = http://rivercenter.us/node/589) is a new feature in my life at a local parenting/community outreach center (2X/mo, I make it when I can). It's for women 40 and over who are in transitions...kids getting older, wanting to make a change, looking for work (not your issue : P), newly divorced, or simply sorting out life in a constructive way.
--FAMILY TIME--Periodically, we love to have a BOARD GAME NIGHT, or a MOVIE NIGHT, RUN-AROUND-OUTSIDE-with-the-soccerball/baseball/softball/basketball/etc. or CHILL-IN-THE-LIVING-ROOM NIGHT. The chill-in-the-living-room night takes many different forms. Sometimes we pull out books and all read our own books, sometimes we read out loud a book our son is reading (yes, he still loves doing this at 15 : ), sometimes we light a fire in the fireplace and just visit, sometimes we torture our son with some of our old vinyl records (he used to love this memory-lane thing, but bolted from the room a couple nights ago when we tried that again, LOL). Or since we built our new 14x16 sunroom addition, we also have CHILL-IN-THE-SUNROOM TIMES. Sitting there during meals or other times, we enjoy watching the hummingbirds (or other birds earlier before the bears warranted taking down those feeders), chipmunks and other wildlife in our yard, storms lighting up the sky, listening to our son playing guitar, torturing each other with bad puns (my husband is uncommonly gifted in this area...groan!).

When our son was young, we used to have FABULOUS FRIDAY DANCE PARTIES or STUPENDOUS SATURDAY (or Sunday)...MANIC MONDAY...TERRIFIC TUESDAY...WEIRD WEDNESDAY...you get the picture. I LOVE to dance and that was the only way I got to do it when our son was younger. It was a ball and the three of us would just dance our hearts out. Once he became self-consious, that went away, *sigh*, but they were a riot when he was little and it let off a lot of steam.

MEMORY BUILDING is also a lot of fun as a family. When our son was 7 or 8, we started doing 1- to 2-week vacations almost every summer. As we pulled out of our driveway each time, we'd yell, "ROAD TRIP!" and be on our way...
1) Train trip from the east coast to Chicago to Denver to San Francisco, to Glacier National Park, and back. Stopping at various places to spend a few days and to build those memories.
2) Drive from east coast to Wyoming and back. We read an entire Harry Potter book out loud on that one.
3) Family reunion, followed by train trip from the midwest to the Grand Canyon and back.
4) Drive through Canada from east coast to the Boundary Waters in northern MN and back.
5) Every 3-4 years, my siblings (we had 6 kids in my family, one has since died) mastermind a family reunion in some place we want to explore--Oregon Coast, Bass Harbor (ME), Boundary Waters (MN). Or we'll get together with a bunch of cousins on one side of the family or the other. I think we've maxed that out for a while, but we're thoroughly enjoyed them while they lasted.

In the past, I've done a ton of VOLUNTEERING--for my church, for local organizations, at school. Just be aware that volunteering can be full-time job if you're not careful. Boundaries are important when you do volunteering to make it a positive experience for all involved.

WATERCOLOR CLASSES and PARENTING CLASSES helped express various parts of me through the years as well.

So, my list includes more than just "hobbies". But they are all things that I thoroughly enjoy/ed. They helped me maintain perspective on life and family and many of them still do.

You sound like your life is incredibly full with work and taxiing your kids. Whatever gives you a little space to smile deep inside is what I would aim for. Whether it's with your family or not. That's what I'd aim for.

I hope you found something that works for you. If not, maybe this list might strike a chord in you. Best of luck!

I am exactly the same! I am trying to think of a good way to harness all of this positive mother energy into a good non-profit or volunteering opportunity for moms. I'll let you know when my lightbulb goes off!

I have to say the younger girls at work were impressed recently when I mentioned a coupon - they think I'm an Extreme Couponer and I didn't even know that was a show!!

I felt the same way!!! I just recently started painting in the past few weeks. I am not really talented mind you...LOL. I just do it to have fun, to have something that I am just doing for me. My husband has his metal detecting hobby. I had no hobbies. I just love painting. I cant really do landscapes, I have tried once and still need to finish it. I just do whatever I feel like and whatever is fun. I use the acrylic's and the great thing is if you "mess up" it is so easy to fix. so you never really ruin anything. good luck.

About 10 or 12 years ago I took up horsebackriding. I found a local barn & trainer and it was absolutely the BEST thing I ever did. I'm still with the same instructor, I've bought my own horse and I've met some terrific women. I don't get to ride often enough to be good at it, but I still have a blast.

I tell everybody my horse is still cheaper than a therapist, and as much of a workout as going to the gym. In fact, recently we've had a bunch of things going on around the house so I wasn't able to get to the barn for about a month or so. My husband finally started asking when I was going back (guess it was obvious that I was getting a little tense). After an hour in the saddle, I was laughing and having a great time. Granted, my thighs were killing the next day because it had been so long, but my heart was feeling so much better -- and, from the reaction I got from my husband and kids, I was much better to be around, too.

Pick what works for you. Don't worry about getting it right. Just try something. If it doesn't work for you, then try something else. It's about doing something that recharges your batteries and what does that might change over time. Go for it!!!

Do you want a hobby? I go through phases. Today I am sewing up a storm, next month it might be cooking or yoga. There are also months when I do nothing. Who cares what anyone else says or thinks, a hobby is about you and what makes you feel good. If hiking makes you feel good and you miss it, then you need to find a way to bring it back into your life, but don't do something just to do it.
Let us know what you choose to do, if anything.