Give me somethings to DOOOO!!

[Ahurani]

You could always come and clean my house

[Gigi]

oh i forgot to add:

get your car serviced
make sure all your tyres are good
anything car wise get checked and fixed, even if service isn'[t due for two months or something

when people ask "what can i do to help" in the early first weeks,
think of that Now and make a list, put it on the fridge
"fill my car up with petrol"
"walk the dog"
"make up a loaf of sandwiches and leave in freezer"
"entertain Charlotte (and list some of her fave things to do, her fave snacks)"
"vacuum car (put everything they find in one shopping bag so you can find your stuff afterwards)
"cut up a box of finger food that you can eat onehanded e.g whilst feeding" fruit is great for this
"when i'm having a bad day, my fave nibbly treat is (insert name and brand of your guilty pleasure)"
"entertain bub so i can have a shower"
"do not wash the nappies unless you have checked with me HOW to do it, it is not like washing clothes"
----anything that may help you when you're in your babymoon, timepoor and having different priorities

Having that list, in a visible place means
other people will see the list (whoever walks thru your kitchen i mean)
when you get put on the spot, visitors asking you, if you feel blank, you can just refer to your list to rejog your memory

if intending to bf
- join ABA
- have the helpline magnet on your fridge
- have the details of a good lactation consultant in your address book
- work out a bf-ing corner (close to horizontal surface for phone, box of stuff you need whilst bf-ing)

[Gigi]

my own nesting consisted on weekly hydrotherapy and dyeing baby clothes purple! it's what i felt compelled to do LOL.

my long list of "what you COULD do", is purely based on my thoughts AFTER my baby arrived, and i was cursing myself for not being better prepared. i had a labour from hell, a VERY long recovery period physically, and zero support (no family), so i had PLENTY of time to consider what i SHOULD/COULD have done, to make it better. Things i was too exhausted to put into practice, at the time i actually needed to do them. So my list is basically a catalogue of all my own stuff ups. And really regretting how i spent my nesting stage. I placed too much hope and trust, that
- my labour would go swimmingly
- i would have excellent health after the birth
- my partner would take up the slack e.g buy food and cook /organise paid help e/g cleaning
That was wishful thinking as things turned out.

i learnt so much from what i did wrong (in my nesting, in my first experience of dealing with a small baby) - i often wish i could have another child, to put into practice, what i learnt from my first.

[sconeonamission]

oh i forgot to add:

get your car serviced
make sure all your tyres are good
anything car wise get checked and fixed, even if service isn'[t due for two months or something

when people ask "what can i do to help" in the early first weeks,
think of that Now and make a list, put it on the fridge
"fill my car up with petrol"
"walk the dog"
"make up a loaf of sandwiches and leave in freezer"
"entertain Charlotte (and list some of her fave things to do, her fave snacks)"
"vacuum car (put everything they find in one shopping bag so you can find your stuff afterwards)
"cut up a box of finger food that you can eat onehanded e.g whilst feeding" fruit is great for this
"when i'm having a bad day, my fave nibbly treat is (insert name and brand of your guilty pleasure)"
"entertain bub so i can have a shower"
"do not wash the nappies unless you have checked with me HOW to do it, it is not like washing clothes"
----anything that may help you when you're in your babymoon, timepoor and having different priorities

Having that list, in a visible place means
other people will see the list (whoever walks thru your kitchen i mean)
when you get put on the spot, visitors asking you, if you feel blank, you can just refer to your list to rejog your memory

I LOVE this idea!!

[thepixie]

Spend your better-late-than-never stimulus money!!

[Mak]

Organise, back up and print your digital photos!!! Something I never do....

[LimeSlice]

Spend your better-late-than-never stimulus money!!

Oh so many things I could do with it!! pmsl
I fear it will largely go on getting the car serviced (which it desperately needs a new cam belt, so there is $700 - Thanks you Gigi ) but I think a few hundred could be used for a night alone in the city for DH and I before bubs is born when MIL arrives end of Jan! (That could be stimulating... for me anyhow ;p )

[LimeSlice]

Organise, back up and print your digital photos!!! Something I never do....

This is a very good point! I actually have some photos here I have to get framed and sent to family in Melbs too. Thank you for reminding me!!

[allejane]

Wow there are some great ideas here! I'm 38 weeks, I'm on maternity leave, there's no sign of baby, and I'm going slowly crazy... I'm definitely going to use some of these ideas tomorrow! The only thing I thought of was to do some bulk cooking and freeze individual serves which is kind of boring and not at all original... These ideas are much better

[Lizzy]

Hmmmm...... Im 38 weeks today and feeling much the same!!! Although I have a 14 month old so I have plenty to do but just not enough!! (if that makes sense?!) I had a rough week last week, heaps of pain, went to hospital Sat night, but nothing, so I have cleaned the bathroom cabinet and cupboards, going to do all the wardrobes this afternoon, how exciting!

[lilmisspositive]

How I love my BB girls. You girls clearly rock. I hope you do not mind but I have copied and pasted all these fabulous ideas to email to my belly buddy group. Hope you guys do not mind?

Hope the time goes quickly and you all get a great deal accomplished. I am so excited that I can print this out and put it on my fridge as my brain is gone these days. xx Btw if someone wants me to email to them a copy pm me.

Thanks again!! xx

[Gigi]

Wow there are some great ideas here! I'm 38 weeks, I'm on maternity leave, there's no sign of baby, and I'm going slowly crazy... I'm definitely going to use some of these ideas tomorrow! The only thing I thought of was to do some bulk cooking and freeze individual serves which is kind of boring and not at all original... These ideas are much better

i don't think your ideas are boring, i didn't do any "bulk cook and freeze" type cooking whilst nesting, and lived to regret it. i had to live on what my dh could cook, or starve (wasn't well enough to stand up to cook for months after labour), so i lived on sausages and 3 veg, for months.

some people are compelled to cook, or to mop floors, i was compelled to dye baby clothing (white, pink, blue) PURPLE! no rhyme or reason, but i just HAD to do it, at the time.

[MsKara]

Bumping this up because I'm so freakin bored right now, and I was wondering if anyone else had any more suggestions

So far I have:
Caught up on all my fave TV shows (and gained a few new favourites lol)
Cleaned and re-organised the pantry
Made a list of simple dinners ideas to make it easier for us to decide on meals at the beginning of the week
Started bulk cooking and freezing
Cleared out the filing cabinet
Baby/Hospital bags are packed
Baby clothes are all washed

I'm about to get DH to help me with room by room cleaning - ie pulling out beds and cupboards to vacuum behind everything

[emc2]

Thanks now I have some ideas for the last trimester.

[Catastrophic]

I have a few assignments that need completing if your all really bored :-D And they are nursing related so you might find them interesting :-D Plus it will keep your mind active, then you won't be bored, lol :-D

[sconeonamission]

I was just thinking of this thread today!!

I lost all my photos amcouple months back (darn hard drives), but found them again somewhere else... Only this time when I transferred them, they in no order whatsoever. I'll be rearranging them sometime in the very near future!

[peanutter]

pantry ... alphebatised all the books, CDs, DVDs, made a new budget for the house, got all the filing caught up to date ... made a routine ... got a whole bunch of reading downloaded and printed out ... started writing a novel (I kid you not) ...