I had to cut a lot of extraneous stuff out of my life. I still make time for me (exercise, time with friends, some volunteering here and there but not much anymore). Because I travel so much for my job, the bulk of my evenings are spent just playing with/being with him. Dates were typically scheduled for lunch or after his bedtime otherwise he would get upset that mommy wasn’t spending enough time with him.

For the first couple years I did very little other than work, church, take care of/play with my boy. It’s easier now that he’s older and I’ve discovered some local programs that give me a “break” (for example, his daycare does a 3 hour block for $1.50 on 4th Saturdays). Sometimes I seriously just clean during those breaks. And now he’s bonded with some of the teens at church so when I go “out” he no longer feels neglected but gets excited about “pizza night.”

I don’t regret those years of doing nothing but “work, church, boy.” I may have missed out on some socializing, and I was often exhausted, but in the grand scheme I kept our lives together and have been told by various teachers he is one of the most well-adjusted children of divorce they’ve seen.

I had to cut a lot of extraneous stuff out of my life. I still make time for me (exercise, time with friends, some volunteering here and there but not much anymore). Because I travel so much for my job, the bulk of my evenings are spent just playing with/being with him. Dates were typically scheduled for lunch or after his bedtime otherwise he would get upset that mommy wasn’t spending enough time with him.

For the first couple years I did very little other than work, church, take care of/play with my boy. It’s easier now that he’s older and I’ve discovered some local programs that give me a “break” (for example, his daycare does a 3 hour block for $1.50 on 4th Saturdays). Sometimes I seriously just clean during those breaks. And now he’s bonded with some of the teens at church so when I go “out” he no longer feels neglected but gets excited about “pizza night.”

I don’t regret those years of doing nothing but “work, church, boy.” I may have missed out on some socializing, and I was often exhausted, but in the grand scheme I kept our lives together and have been told by various teachers he is one of the most well-adjusted children of divorce they’ve seen.

I think this is where I'm at. He's 6, so for now, it's pretty much another full-time job, but I think it will get a lot easier in the near future when he can start helping out more around the house and also finding his own entertainment. . But, the truth is, I LIKE spending as much time with him as I can. I'd much rather do legos or go to the park with him than do the dishes!

6 is old enough to start picking up your own toys! As a child, I certainly had to pick up my toys from younger, as did my niece and nephew a few years ago. I feel like sometimes, parents are so concerned about making sure their kids are happy all the time, but parenting is also about teaching them life skills through things like chores that might be less enjoyable, a little at a time, so they learn to be fully functioning adults by the time they are ready to leave the house. It sounds to me like you are treating the job of picking up toys and cleaning up after your son as your job so he just has the fun parts, but you can make it part of the time you spend together by doing the chores together for now at least. Eventually, it can be his job alone while you go off and do the dishes.

MY kids are 6 and 9. They are both in charge of cleaning there own rooms (or doing both rooms together). However since my 9yr old is currently grounded she is doing manual labor. I had her clean up her bathroom the other day. I also have her folding and putting away both of there laundry. I told her we dont lay in bed when were grounded in this house. Its not vacation.