I agree. You will be teaching your children how to work (or play) independently AND teaching them the importance and how to relax and enjoy a hobby.

When my kids were that age, I couldn't sew until they went to bed. (I had 4).

Perhaps you could schedule a "play date" and sew, and then repay the favor. We did that a lot when I was raising kids.

Don't be hard on yourself. Raising kids is hard work. It's easier to go to work than raise kids, IMHO. :)

Cherish the time with the wee ones. You never know what life may bring and if you spend time now, you are building a great relationship with them for the teen years. It's hard work and selfless to raise kids...especially when you want to do something else. I DO remember the stress and the need for "me" time. I used to have mine have a "quiet time" in the PM for about 45 minutes. They'd be in their rooms with books and I could sew or embroider. Then we'd all be recharged and ready to go for the rest of the day. By the way, they were readers before they ever went to school! Also, see if there are other moms that you can trust to trade a couple of hours of child care with now and then.

i have friends and grandma to watch the kids. its just thast when i have quiet time I just want to take a nap or clean up. my problem is finding the most vation to sit down and sew.

When my kids were little, I used to eagerly await nap time or better yet...bedtime & then have at it!! :-) At that point I had a corner spot out of the way that I could leave my machine set up on. It saved set up time gave me that few extra minutes to sew. As the old saying goes...inch by inch, everything's a cinch! ;-) I hope you get your quilting mojo back soon!

How about giving the kids something to do craft-wise, something age appropriate, that they can work on while you sew. They are kind of young to sit still for long spans of time, but shorter spans are doable. I don't have any children, but I find after being out of work over a year, and finally landing a full time job, I am just too tired at the end of the day to quilt. Weekends I plan to sew, but don't seem to do it. I don't have a sewing room, so I have take out my machine and put it away each time I use it. I think we all go through this at one time or another. Even when I don't sew, I still think about it. at some point the urge comes back. Don't give up!

When I was working and my kids were little I would get up early and sew for 30 minutes - but I had a room that I could close the door and leave my project waiting. If the kids were awake my son would be in the same room and use his dump truck to haul the scraps to the garbage. It is difficult to get any "me" time when you have little ones. They do grow up fast so treasure the time you do have with them.

When my kids were little I only did garment sewing, mostly for them. As they got into school it was easier to find a chance to work on it. I remember doing more crocheting with kids on my lap than sewing. But I have pictures of two of them in cute little matching tan leisure suits and four of them in purple and blue plaid western shirts (one of each for Dad too) that I made. Of course once they were in school there were costumes for school plays, the Christmas parade, etc - a pig, a lion, a candy cane, a donkey, an angel, a Wise Man, a shepherd, a poodle skirt, the list goes on.

Didn't start quilting until fairly recently. And there are weeks when I don't get near my sewing machine and days that it seems like I'm there nearly all day.

Some of it is other priorities and some is desire or lack thereof. I've always been a "have to be in the mood" crafter of whatever struck my fancy at the time. Of course some projects had deadlines so that entered the picture as well.

Good luck on getting motivated again!

Ok, if it's just motivation you need, try to find a quilt show to go to! Always works for me. Good luck. I never had time for anything like that when my kids were little, so you're doing better than I did in that respect. My only quiet time was spent gardening, because no one, husband included, would help me pull weeds, etc. As a result, none of them (kids are adults now) know the difference between a flower, weed, or rock. And they have recently expressed regrets for not helping/learning---all except one, lol!

Push yourself to do a minimum of 1/2 hour a day on the UFO's and I think the motivation will come.