Being asked what your hobbies are is one of those questions where your mind just instantly goes blank.
Being asked what your hobbies are is one of those questions where your mind just instantly goes blank.
If you are a mum, there is a chance that you don’t even know what your hobbies are anymore.
Our own needs tend to be pushed to be the bottom of the list, and that definitely includes doing things for us.
Then suddenly we realise we are not even sure what we like any more.
Why hobbies are important for mums
They might seem like something that’s just a fun thing, but doing things we enjoy is really important.
Having hobbies are one of the ways that we make life feel more fulfilling and help us feel like us.
Making time for our hobbies is good for:
- helping us feel like us
- stopping us losing ourselves in motherhood
- making life more fulfilling
- reducing stress
- improving our mood and happiness levels
- keeps our brain healthy
- learning new skills
- helps socially
- improves and supports our mental health
So hobbies or making a point of doing things that we enjoy is important.
How do I figure out my hobbies?
If you feel like you don’t know what your hobbies are, that’s okay.
Maybe the type of things you enjoy doing have changed since having kids, and that’s normal.
If you feel like you have no idea what you would like to do as a hobby, try thinking about these questions.
I’d grab some paper and write some ideas down to make it more helpful!
- What did I enjoy doing as a child?
- If you had some free time as a child or if you were bored what would be your go to thing?
- What do you enjoy doing now?
- What do you enjoy reading about or watching programmes about or learning more about?
- If your entire todo list was crossed off, and your kids were out for the day – what would you do?
What things came up for you?
Look at the things that you have thought of and then think of ways that those can become hobbies for you now.
If you liked climbing trees as a child, could you try rock climbing?
Or if you loved writing stories or just writing in general – could you take a creative writing class, start writing a book or start a blog or substack.
Could you join an exercise class or go to a class to learn something new?
What if I don’t have time for hobbies?
One of the barrier to hobbies for mums, especially stay-at-home mums or carer mums is that we can’t just go.
We have to think about child-care etc.
If you have a partner or someone who can watch the kids while you go and join a class or a book club or go to the gym or whatever it is that you enjoy doing – then definitely do that.
Making time for yourself to do things is so unbelievably important.
It doesn’t even make sense that you feel guilty about it, because taking care of you is a part of taking care of your kids.
It’s so hard to be the mum that you want to be when you aren’t doing anything for you or taking care of your own needs.
So just arrange for some help and just go.
If you can’t leave the house much for hobbies
That doesn’t mean you can’t have hobbies you want to have.
There is so much that you can do online now that you don’t even need to leave the house for most things.
There are a lot of online courses you can do.
Online groups you can join.
You can find tutorials and designs etc that you can print off.
You can buy materials online.
Don’t let the fact that you are a stay-at-home mum stop you from doing things for you.
Those hobbies that you have got to leave the house for, like hiking, just make time for them occassionally.
Ask for help every month or so for you to do that.
Occasional hobbies still count.
Hobby ideas for mums
This isn’t an extensive list, but hopefully it will give you some inspiration when you are working out what hobby you fancy doing.
There is a bit of a mix of hobbies.
Take what you fancy and leave the rest.
- Reading
- Join a book club (online or real-life)
- Write a book (nobody has to ever see it!)
- Do a creative writing class
- Start a blog or substack
- Baking
- Do an online course
- Learn to play an instrument
- Learn a new language (I use duolingo)
- Colouring in
- Painting
- Watercolour painting
- Paint by numbers
- Colour by numbers
- Make a scrapbook
- Start Pilates (my favourite!) or Yoga
- Begin an at-home workout program
- Walking on a treadmill/walking pad
- Learn nail art
- Crochet
- Knit
- Embroidery
- Sewing
- Needle felting
- Play video games
- Cook some new recipes
- Do an cooking class (online or real-life)
- Gardening
- Tye-dye
- Get into house plants
- Diamond art
- Dancing
- Bullet journalling
- Make Jewellery
- Research your family tree
- Jigsaw
- Painting furniture
- Redecorating your home
- Candle making
- Creative journalling
- Sudoku
- Crosswords/arrow words/word searches
- Make your own herb garden
- Make bird feeders
- Photography
- Start a youtube channel
- Bread making
- Pottery or making ceramics (you can get kits online)
Outside the home hobbies
- Park run
- Hiking
- Walking
- Running
- Join a gym
- Join an exercise class
- Swimming
- Paddle boarding/kayaking/canoeing
- Cycling
- Geocaching
- Pokemon Go
- Volunteer
What are your hobbies?
Let me know in the comments!
Beth x
