Now I'm intrigued, what's the third paying job?

YOU.ARE.NOT.STUPID! This is your life right now and personally, I think you are living it just wonderfully! I firmly believe that children are a part of your life, not your whole life but at the same time, you must focus on them getting a good start and if that means no running, reading, scrapbooking or travelling for 5 years so be it! Your time will come and then you just might be *gasp* bored! :)

My hobbies all revolve around the kids...is there another option?? I work PT (outside the home)& while I'm supposed to be working I seem to spend the bulk of my time online buying clothes, xmas presents, etc for my kids...so maybe MY hobbie is eBay...now that is S-A-D!

I too dislike this question! Between work and two kids and house to clean... ah my hobbies including cleaning, working and taking care of the children/husband. Those count. And then I default to reading and blogging (reading and writing) and things I used to do when I was young and single and really hot(t?) (or is that hawt!?) Things like hiking, working out, running, shopping, TRAVEL, drinking good wine... yada yada yada... Um so there is reading now :)

I too am a reader. I also write a lot. I love workouts (but i find a way to make it happen, and if you want to run, I say you do what I do and go off mom duty for 30 - 45 minutes a day and say "HEY! It's daddy/kid time! Mommy needs some endorphins or she'll spontaneously combust in the express lane at the grocery store!"). I also recently started taking guitar lessons in the past few months. 30 minutes once a week and it has completely nothing to do with my kids and is all about me. LOVE IT.

I can't even list reading as a hobby unless you count reading kids books an endless amount of times. I'm barely making it with blogging, running, and oh, the girls' wine club (aka my sanity saver). And 3 paying jobs? I am impressed. Especially on top of handling 2 kiddos.

I hate this question because I don't really have any hobbies. Unlike you, I don't even have a real excuse. No babies, no three jobs to take up my time. I just ... like sleeping too much? Does sleeping count as a hobby?

Reading, reading blogs, taking pictures, looking at other people's kick ass photos and wishing I had a better camera, talking to women about childbirth and breastfeeding, having tea/coffee/hot chocolate with my mommy friends... is that a hobby? Well, it is around here, I guess.

Yeah, pretty lame list right now. When I'm older I'll add something cool to that list. I hope. I mean I will, right? RIGHT?????

Well, I hate to say it, but one of my hobbies is knitting. I hope that didn't make you feel bad.

Cas
Oh, and I also crochet. Been doing both since I was eight years old. So maybe it's my Mother's fault.

Karaoke; though I am kind of borderline crazy about facebook. and I am over the age of 25 ...

Those around me run from me when I tell them about my latest adventure in Karaoke. :-)

Apparently I touched a nerve. I'll just go sit quietly in the corner now.

(Why wouldn't you list reading as a hobby? It has the same elements: Something you do with your spare time that you enjoy and find enriching. I always list it as one of my hobbies.)

I actually had a woman criticize me the other day because, when she was talking about going to concerts every other weekend, she asked what kind of concerts I like going to. When I responded that I haven't been to a concert in years, she asked in a very pompous tone, "Well, what DO you do in your spare time?"

I said, "You did just hear me say that I have 3 small children, right?"

She said, "Yes, but that doesn't give you a right to sit around and have no life. Your children should learn to adapt to YOUR schedule. You should NOT revolve your life around theirs!"

Thanks, lady. Should my dishes, laundry and dust bunnies learn to adapt to my newly suggested bachelorette schedule too?

I like to read too. But usually it's parenting books...

I actually like to cook. But it kinda gets old, day after day, with a baby on my hip...

I do blog. Those are my 5 minutes of sanity each day.

I think about running. But I've never had the endurance to actually do it.

See, you are not alone.

***No offense intended to ANY commenter for anything!***

But yes, I always sort of hate that question, but I think it's because of what's behind the question. One commenter (and I can't recall who and it's not important because the commenter meant no harm and I really never intend to target anyone) actually elaborated, asking something along the lines of: "...and what do you do, beyond being a wife and mother. Who are YOU? What do YOU like to do?" And this is exactly what I really hate. I cannot answer that question, because for this brief time (maybe until kids start reading to themselves and dressing themselves and bathing themselves, etc.), I don't know who I am. And I can totally relate to what you're saying, in that it strikes a nerve because it's TRUE. So when I admit to myself (and to the whole world) that I have lost my identity, it's very sad. And then I feel like I am doing something wrong, like I would be a better person if I developed some interests or something. And so I feel guilty. Or just uninteresting.

And so I sort of make stuff up. "I like to knit..." [said to self: ...in fact, I have been working on my first ever sweater for about 2 years now, and I have finished exactly 2 scarfs in my lifetime.]

"I like to read..." [...for about 5 mintues per week and hopefully it's something more substantial than the TV Guide.]

"I like to cook..." [...choo choo noodles with sprinkle cheese and peas for the kids, and frozen pizzas for myself.]

And the truth is, my new hobbies are centered around my children, and they are what give me pleasure.

I like to teach my children.

I love the feeling of sitting down with my 2-year old to do a project, and to feel like I have taught her some new fact, or new scientific principle. I like to see her roll rubber cement between her fingers. I love teaching her letters, and seeing her face light up when she WRITES a letter. (Oh, yes! She can write O, X, and H. And my heart nearly bursts with pride every time she does it!)

I love to read to my 13-month old, watching her register that there are WORDS on the pages, and that the pages turn, and the words sound pretty together, and that the pictures go with the words, and that if I turn the page backwards, Mommy says the same words she just said. It's magic!

So I guess that's my hobby. It's what I do and it's what I enjoy.

Oh, and I watch Tivo'ed Grey's Anatomy like once every other week.

So please, world, don't make me feel uninteresting! Don't suggest that being a mommy and being passionate about it isn't enough of an identity for one to be HAPPY!

There. I feel better.

I read, do yoga, and play guitar (and write, but I get paid to do that, so it's not a hobby). Not much time to devote to any of these things lately, as I'm currently the main attraction in the 8 month old baby circus, but I have an hour or two each day.

I'm seriously starting to wonder if the Fish-Cactus household needs an intervention. All you two ever blog about is how busy and stressed you are. Relax and dial it back a little!

I like to read (fiction novels and celebrity magazines, mostly), write (emails and blogging and keeping a journal), and I like to take pictures of the kids.

I would have to say currently my hobby is trying to sneak fiber into my 2 year olds diet so she will poop. We are having major pooping issues.
Normally I would say anything crafty or artsy (think scrapbooking, painting, making things, decorating) and camping/being outside are the things I enjoy the most. But now....the poop, it consumes me. I can't believe I am hitting post on this comment....

I like reading too, that is a wonderful hobby. I cross stich, it is the only crafty thing I do and I enjoy it.

My hobbies are mainly in the arts -- piano, dance, photography, web design. I am also obsessed with maps and travel guides.

Do people find you a hard person to buy gifts for? My dad is sort of a one hobby person, and I find it so very hard to buy things for him.

It will get better, honest! When mine were yours ages my "hobbies" were just like yours are now. Now I have more time to take for me (they're 4 and 2 now) that I enjoy (knit). I do much of what you do now (read, think about running, blog) as well as cook (though that's not really a hobby as much as something I have to do that I happen to enjoy) and knit (and crochet a little). I know, as time goes by, I'll have more and more time to do things I love. I also know that, right when I've got the most time to do stuff is when I'll end up going back to work because life sucks like that.

Oh, and I don't consider reading a hobby as much as a requirement for life. I breathe. I read.

This post reminds me of the quote attributed to Laura Bush (apparently Barbara Bush asked her what she did for a living or something): "I read, I smoke, I admire."

Aside from apparently ignoring her husband's war crimes and heinous policies, she seems to be a pretty okay lady ... :)

I blog and I read.

That's it.

I know exactly what you mean- but here's what I think. What you're going through now is only temporary, when my kids were your kids' ages I also didn't have time to do many things for myself. But then after they got a bit older I was able to resume going to the gym everyday and doing other things for myself. I do believe though that it's important you don't get burned out, so whatever time you do have, use it for yourself. It's ok to be a bit selfish sometimes.

Painting, arts and crafts. When my girls were little I let them paint with me. If I was making Christmas presents, I would stay up till the wee hours painting so I didn't have to deal with them.

Besides, what answer would satisfy anyone? I collect stamps? I do hooked rugs? I paint-by-number? I work on my model train set? "Hobby" is a silly word.

Wow, you just listed all of MY hobbies! In the exact same order. But you left off "addicted to chocolate".

I think when you have young children and you're their primary caregiver, you give up the luxury of "hobbies". Or "free time". Or "privacy in the bathroom/shower/bedroom/grocery store/anywhere you used to be able to call your own".

Grrr. Hobbies.

I'm in college, yet my favorite things to do are read, sew, crochet, and bake. I'm just the girl at home with my laptop and my crochet hook, when all the other kids are out doing... whatever it is that college kids actually do.
Also, I'm dating a Linux-programming, mechanical engineering-majoring ham (as in amateur radio).
We are *truly* nerdy.

PS: I tried to post my comment, and it told me I have posted too many comments in a short while, so I should try again later. Which is weird, because I'm pretty sure I'm delurking for the first time ever...

I am sitting here trying to think of my hobbies.... Still thinking...... there has to be something.

I know I used to have a life. Now I have a three year old and a 1 year old. I clean my house. I do laundry. I clean and feed my kids. I drag them to playgroups on occasion to save my sanity. We go to the library, the grocery store, mommy and me classes and as a special treat, the gym. I haven't been out with my husband without my kids in probably at least a year. When my kids are in school and a little less needy, I will go back to hobbies of things like quilting, scrapbooking, and anything else crafty. My kids are only going to be this age once, I will have time for hobbies later. :-)

Roller Derby

Well, I knit enough for the both of us, I'm sure, so if you pick up my reading slack, I'll say we're about even. I don't read as much as I used to before I started knitting. I miss reading actual books. Audio books just aren't the same, y'know? I can read and knit at the same time, but the book has to be able to stay open on its own, or it doesn't work. Too much stopping and starting if I have to set down the knitting, move the stapler and tape dispenser, turn the page, put the stapler and tape dispenser back to hold the pages open, and pick up the knitting.

Other than knitting, I ... think about reading? lol!

For hobbies I row and bike. I also make some home brew from time to time. I like to read, but I seem not to have been doing much of that lately. I also dabble in blogging.

According to Cobweb's description, sleeping is one of my hobbies. I also consider anything I have done a few times and enjoyed: running, knitting, cross stitch, golf. And sometimes I just make stuff up to seem interesting: horseback riding, pottery. In real life, I like to read and bake.

Your hobbies are the same as mine! Go us! Well, apart from the fact that I have no blog right now and I haven't been running for a good three years (although I'm back at the gym in the new year). I do love to read though. Reading it great. It gives me even ten minutes of time where I don't have to talk about Peppa Pig or think about washing the dishes.

Hobbies. They do tend to revolve around the kids, don't they?
Currently they include trying to create a brother or sister for my son, I Facebook more than I like to admit, and I like baking and cake decorating. I started cake decorating just to make cool birthday cakes for my son though, so again, it comes down to the kid.
I consider my time at work "me time". Does that count? I'm not so sure.
I agree though, "hobby" isn't the right word. More like "Things we fit into our lives to keep from going totally insane".
Better? LOL

Hobbies? You have got to be kidding me. I barely have time to take a shower.

I don't have a three-year-old and a baby and I still can't find the time to read, run or do anything else hobby-esque.

So my hobbies consist of: yelling at the dog, ignoring the laundry and getting entirely too involved in the lives of Gossip Girl characters.

If unloading the dishwasher and blogging don't count as hobbies I've got nothing.

Watching "Top Chef"? Grocery shopping? Playing Monopoly on my Palm Pilot in the school parking lot?

I do 8 loads of laundry a DAY. I don't know where it all comes from. Maybe it's towels, from all those showers everyone is always taking.

Asking about hobbies makes me feel the way I do when someone asks what activities I did as a child--I feel like they are judging whether I was making good use of my time to grow into an accomplished adult. Anyway, nothing wrong with reading--it's a great pleasure. I do it a lot--guess it's why blogs are popular.