Ideas to keep myself busy? What did you do?

[amevessa]

Hi. I am a stay at home mom and spend most hours of the week at home. I tend to smoke more when I am home. I do not really have a choice at this point to go get a life outside of my house or get a job, I wish I did. I never smoked when I was at work which would have probably made it easier to quit back then. Oh well. I am wondering if anyone has any ideas on things I could do to keep myself busy while I am home. I already do the typical clean my house from top to bottom every day, garden, play with the kids, etc. Normal housewife things. But I still have so much time left in the day it seems. Help? Please? Even if someone just wants to text or something, that would be great. Just something to fill that extra time. 

[wishingstar]

When I was at home, the first time. I just spent alot of time reading and writting blogs. i kinda lived here. is their hobbie you want to try?   I walked my dogs, danced, . took breaks and cleaned, when an urged poped in. if it is possible for you a nap was great to, but not everyone like to nap.  blow bubbles, chewing gum.  crunch foods.

Sending a list some one shared with me.

https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/aztec-blog/2012/10/16/things-to-do-instead-of-smoke

[kfelix1]

I have been kinda wondering the same thing since I only just quit Aug 1st, I have bikes my daughter and I could go do that and play the Wii but Im even having probs with the increased pain and I suppose they are anxiety symptoms, I went to the store and everything looked funny and I felt really anxious but Id like to get back to the gym, I was trying to set up a family membership at the Y and maybe that would be an option for you, depending on how old your child/children are they can go do swimming or gymnastics and they have grant type funds if you were lower income even and you could go walk or take a class yourself 😉

[gypsy7]

I am teaching myself to sculpt. It is a lot of fun and my daughter enjoys it too. I use crayola air dry clay. my icon picture is one of my sculptures!! It helps time go by and keeps my hands busy and my mind occupied. I buy it at wal-mart. I also bought a fondant tool kit there which works great as tools for sculpting. Draw, write, read. Get in touch with some inner creativity! I know it might sound silly but it does make time go by! If you want more info or art type suggestions just send me a message and I can make it more personalised based on your interests and lifestyle!

[ShawnP]

Maybe crafts? if you never learned to do something, there is so many youtube videos. Crocheting, latchhooking, cross stitch etc. I started walking. In the beginning of my quit, i went out quite a bit especially when i was upset. That really helped me to calm down. 

[Nyima_1.6.13]

Wow, I raised my God Daughter and maybe it was because her birth mother was so unavailable that she was pretty demanding but I never felt like I had 'free time' for a cigarette! Yes, sadly, I smoked in front of her! Ugh!

I see Renee sent you the link of a pretty extensive list!

@kfelix has a great idea and most Y's have adjustable fees!

@gypsy..I am so impressed! Since I don't have kids at home anymore and only see teen grand kids on the occasional weekend, I took a welding class and pulled out my old easel which I hadn't used since college! I took an acrylic painting class as I was always into water colors! Crayola air dry clay sounds sooo..not threatening! Gonna get some today!

I hope you'll experiment with lots of options! I continue to be amazed how much free time I have since quitting! Another perk of not having to think about it and schedule your life around when can I get my next hit!

[Brenda_M]

Cell phone games...I played a TON of Diner Dash when I first quit!

[joyeuxencore]

What i would give to be a stay at home Mom! You have a quality problem there friend and huge congrats on your quit...

You have gotten so many great suggestions! I love to bead necklaces as a hobby...fun to pick out the pretty stuff..I took a couple classes and it was great...also I hung out on EX constantly...I learned to find graphics and post them on people's message boards and how to post pictires in blog comments and took time to find just the right picture...(I still DO that and love it!) xo

Shawn gave us instructions on how to do that recently per my request. I want to share the info with you in case you would like it! xo

https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/ShawnP-blog/2012/12/01/how-to-post-pictures-in-a-blog-post-...

https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/ShawnP-blog/2012/12/01/how-to-post-pictures-on-a-message-bo...