Please cheer me up.

[Lonelymum]

Feeling really low at the moment and could do with some cheering up. You know, the good old fashioned sort like my mother would mention, eg I stepped outside to put some rubbish in the bin and saw that it was lovely and sunny out. I know the sun should cheer me up, but I need something more than that.

[Aimsmum]

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[Lonelymum]

Yes, as from tomorrow.

Actually the sun has gone in here too and it is pretty damp here. I keep reading all the normal things people are doing here on Mumsnet and trying to persuade myself that life isn't so bad. But inside I feel differently.

[charliebat]

Do you have a garden? Or a bit of mud with flowers in it...how about delving about there? Or sweeping up the leaves outside? (I done mine yesterday, was nice coming back to a tidier garden)

[littlerach]

you could look forward to our Sputh West meet up!! Or perhaps that would make you feel worse!!!

[Aimsmum]

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[Lonelymum]

Charliebat, we have an enormous garden. Yes, i could go and sweep the patio.

Littlerach, I don't think that meeting is going to happen, do you? I was in Bath yesterday and felt so sad as I lived there when I was a student and it brought back those times. They weren't exactly stressfree, but it was another sort of stress.

[kuoni]

Chocolate.
Normally works for me - big mug of hot chocolate and a flake.

Alternatively, I suppose the healthy active kind of stuff is usually worth doing to get fresh air into your lungs and stretch out your muscles - walkt ot eh shops for your bar of chocolate, go collect some autumn leaves in the park so that you can make collages with the children after school (I am right in thinking yours are at school/nursery?)
Empty out your airing cupboard and stack up all your towels and bedding nicely to get that "ahh, really made a housey type difference today, what a domestic goddess I am.."
Bake a round of homemade cookies for the same self congratulatory good feelings you get...
Or, if you have a bike, go for a ride for half an hour, always makes me feel better - strap DD2 into her bike seat , thermos flask of coffee and off we go.

TBH it doesn?t matter what you do, just go do something and immerse yourself into it with plenty of gusto. You will soon feel a bit brighter, honest

[Lonelymum]

Yes we did something similar yesterday Aimsmum. Trouble is, with more than one person to please, it always ends up with someone spoiling it for the others...

[littlerach]

Yes I know what you mean. i always see Bath as a place where I was quite carefree. no responsibilities , well less, even when Dd1 was born, everything was how it should be!

[Lonelymum]

It looked that way yesterday Littlerach! I would love to be able to live there again but dh doesn't lke it much and ds1 was complaining about how dirty it was! You would think we had taken him to the pits of London or Birmingham or some other metropolis! He likes the village/small towns he has lived in since he was 2. I couldn't help smiling thinking he will probably end up living in London and complaining that dh and me are country bumpkins!

[littlerach]

yes, DH would never live there again, he doesn't get it!1

We always joke that if we came into money, I'd want to live in Bath, whereas he'd buy somewhere in the country.

Don't get me wrong, I love where we live now, it's not too rural, but I'd also love to live in Bath again. Dh hates the parking, the traffic, Southgate part of town, and the rest!

DD1 loves it if we get the train in, as she calls it "The City"!! I think she likes to see all the shops and watch the people. And she loves it if I take her to the places I'#ve lived.

[Lonelymum]

The parking is diabolical, I must admit. We drove around for ages yesterday trying to find somewhere to park. Where did you used to live there? Were you a student there too? I had a fabulous flat overlooking the Royal Crescent for about 18 months. I always say, I will never live in such a fabulous location ever again in my life.

[littlerach]

i went to the teacher training college, think it is spa uni now, but never did my PGCE!
I lived in Oldfield Park, then lower weston as a student. I also live on Manvers St for a couple of years after grad. Then bought a tiny house in Lower Weston. we moved this way in 2001.

[Lonelymum]

Blimey, I went to the teacher training college too but was there 4 years taking a B.Ed.

[Enid]

Go outside!! It's lovely and sunny and I am cooped up in my office! Go and deadhead some plants, tidy the patio and go for a walk.

[littlerach]

Small world!!

I graduated 1997, bit younger than you I think. But I loved it there, my younger sister ended up doing her BA QTS there on my recommendation!

Have to go and see to DH (tummy bug!!!) but hope you're feeling a bit better. Maybe meet up in Bath will take place one day!!

[Lonelymum]

Ok tidied my dining room, been for a walk and been to church for a quiet prayer. Still feel awful so any other ideas would be lovely.

[Aimsmum]

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[Lonelymum]

A little better thanks Aimsmum as dh has just come home and told me he is not going away tomorrow night but Wednesday morning instead. That means I can go to a playgroup committee meeting I thought I was going to have to miss tomorrow night, but my evening class on Wednesday night is still not going to be possible.

I feel so tired all the time at the mo and I can't work out whether that is making me feel low or whether that is a symptom of feeling low.

Did you end up getting anything for dd?

[Aimsmum]

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[Lonelymum]

Not been taking anything for feeling down as I know it is phobia induced. As for tiredness, just several long nights' sleep would help. Just been reading a diary I kept when I was a student and it is amazing how many times I woke up about 12 noon! Though I thought nothing of having friends round at 10 at night so I don't think I was going to bed until 2am ish. Even so, that was 10 hours sleep I was getting! And that was nearly 20 years ago! Or do older people need less sleep?

[Aimsmum]

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[littlerach]

Actually, it is thought that the older you get, the less sleep you need.
Personally I think that if you wake naturally, rather than by a small child, then you feel much better. Even if I have 8 hrs now, as I am woken by Dd2, then I feel crabby.
I daren't think how long it's been since I had unbroken sleep!

[Lonelymum]

I have always needed more than 8 hours a night. I usually go to bed at 10 but read for a bit and then dh gets up at 6 but I go back to sleep until 7 usually. It should be enough, but it isn't. Last night, I went to my committee meeeting - OMG it didn't finish until 10:45! I was in bed by 11 but couldn't sleep and then dh was up in the night to dd who had a temperature, and then he himself got up at 4 to go to Germany, and I was up again at 5:30 because dd was hallucinating. Then back up again about 6:45 to start the day. No wonder I feel so low!

Really, really, down today. Just want a light somewhere to switch on in my life.

[bubblepop]

lonely mum, what are you feeling phobic about?