Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all, hope the holidays are going ok?
My daughter has completely finished school now. She is 18 and she is coping extremely well but has starting complaining that there isn't much structure and she's getting bored and wants more jobs.
She currently does babysitting, some one off jobs, another every couple of weeks. She also has a cleaning job which starts next week. During the week, myself and my husband are working. My son, 10, will stay with Chloe or go to my parents or sisters house. My other daughter stays out with friends all day. Chloe is alone during the day with our dog. I'm usually gone 8-3/4.
During the day, I give Chloe tasks to do e.g hoovering, hang up washing, load or unload dishwasher. She is happy doing these. She will also either listen to music or watch criminal minds but she says it's kinda boring all day. Her brain needs to be busy and active, she can't just sit around and do nothing or chill.
One interest/hobby she has currently is making a scrapbook with her favourite things in: Criminal Minds, Family, Holidays and much more but she likes to do this in the evening, whilst watching criminal minds. Its and organising activity and calms her before bed.
Can you think of any activities she can do in the day which can keep her mind busy? Money isn't an issue as such and she can drive. She would usually go for drives but has finally realised the expenses of this and is driving a lot less. Any activities for at home?
Many thanks,
Lucy
I replied and then it deleted everything :( I will try again but no message is as good on the second time and I am quite disappointed that it deleted :(
I was in the same position last year as I had just left school and was taking a gap year. I took a gap year for my mental health so I focused on doing things that were relaxing and that I enjoyed doing. Most days are the same but with slightly different activities and the order sometimes changed. I go for a walk every day and aim to be out for an hour, I read for 30-60 minutes (and sometimes do this twice a day), I do colouring or drawing or something similar for about half an hour, I do chores for about an hour, I spend an hour doing something music related like composing or playing the clarinet, I love learning so I spend around an hour learning a language or learning history, and in the late afternoon I often play video games or do a puzzle. Sometimes I plan an “out” day when I get the train (I can’t drive) to a nearby town and go shopping or just walk around somewhere different and I often eat fast food for lunch on those days.
I know that this might not be helpful as what works for me probably won’t work for a lot of other people, but hopefully there’s some ideas you can use!