When Alice was around 7-8 months and began crawling, the reality of her sudden mobility smacked me square in the face. She was no longer my tiny, smooshie little baby, whom I could safely set down in one location and come right back to. Nope, she was on the go and with a mind of her own. And for any of you that have met her – you know just how determined she can be. I began lamenting her newborn days, which seemed like a lifetime ago, and shared my thoughts many times with our beloved Mother’s Outlet Group. But what shocked me was that so many mother’s there deeply disliked and struggled with the newborn phase, desperately clinging onto the light at the end of the tunnel, which for many of them equaled to toddlerhood. And that’s when it hit me: I was the exact opposite. I loved the newborn and infant phase and at that point, absolutely dreaded toddlerhood.
I mean really, how could anyone think it was fun? The tantrums, the defiance, the chasing them all over the place, the million and one “why?” (that let’s face it, are yet to come for us). I barely had the energy to get through a day of ensuring she was well fed, clean, and safe crawling around, let alone the necessary stamina for repetitive conversations, safety reminders, picky eating, and changing up activities every few minutes. I felt exhausted just thinking about it, and even just the thoughts brought on feelings of mom guilt and inadequacy.
But here we are, 19 months tomorrow, definitely a full fledged toddler running around the house, calling for “mama” to show me the most exciting and mundane things all day long. And I am just as busy and exhausted as expected. While I am a working mom, my schedule is beautiful in that it allows me plenty of time to spend with my little girl during the day. That being said, I most days I have a million and one things on my to do list and giving Alice plenty of attention and love is of course the priority. But sometimes, something’s gotta give and she needs to be kept busy in other ways. So here are some things we enjoy, for you stay-at-home-moms, and work-part-time-moms, and I-just-need-to-accomplish-something moms.
- We love to get messy. This one is definitely an activity that requires adult supervision and help, but the fun and excitement can satisfy the baby’s need for activities for a big chunk of the day, and I can guarantee that following the bath you would absolutely need after this kind of fun, your baby will sleep like a…well, baby.
- Felt activity board and 2D folds: Target has these “one dollar” bins that are just a massive trap for us moms. They have some of the best and cheap activities and decorations. Specifically, I have gotten Alice a 2D dollhouse with felt dolls that she can dress and feed (with cake!) and put to bed. She carries them everywhere, arranges them in various random locations, and can be entertained for quite some time. In the same bins, Ali and I discovered a felt finger puppet set, and she chose the monkeys (there was also a set a farm animals and a safari zoo themed one). Affordable, takes up little space, and safe to play with. Finally, my mom made Alice this incredible felt activity board where she can add various shapes and figures onto the felt board. Check out Pinterest for some ideas.
- Boxes. Boxes of any kind. Is anyone else’s child have a box obsession that would rival a cat? You know all those “if it fits it sits” cat meme’s online? Yeah, that’s my child. But hey. It has kept her busy and happy on many occasions. Add some toys, of give your kiddo free reign with all those Amazon delivery boxes (yes, I know you have a bunch of them), and just sit back and sip some coffee.4. Fresh air. I will be the first to admit that I do not take Alice for nearly enough walks. Either the weather is too cold/too hot, or I’m just too busy, or it’s a hassle: I am not a huge fan of just walking around the neighborhood and our nearest park requires driving there and back. That seems like too much work. But Alice has recently developed an affinity for our back yard: it’s not particularly entertaining for a child. It’s mostly neat and has a variety of my grandfather’s tools, but beyond that, there isn’t much to do. That does not stop her one bit. Once she is out there, you cannot get her back inside with any bribe or promise. She loves collecting the rocks that we have in lieu of dirt; she stops to smell every.single.flower she finds, she loves walking in the grass even though it throws her
off balance left and right, and yesterday, she learned about gardening with her great grandpa!! That was quite a treat! She gets fresh air, she is contained to the yard, and while she does require some supervision and support, I can often check some tasks of my list while we play outside. (i.e. emails)
5. Speaking of the back yard and hot weather: last year I bought her a kiddie pool and that was the best $3.99 I ever spent. While I have spent many high school years wishing we could get a pool in our yard, it just isn’t feasible. But for anyone who has experienced California summers, you know that water play sounds absolutely heavenly. Alice thinks so too and spend the majority of last summer splashing around in a kiddies pool, adding the hose “mist” option for a special treat. This requires your undivided attention as a parent but boy are the subsequent naps glorious. Can’t wait to bring this out again this summer!
6. There are of course a variety of children’s activities available around town, and while these are a bit more of a time, planning, and financial commitment, there was one I could not wait to try out: BALLET CLASS! I am a lover of all things dance, having spend majority of my first 16 years of life in a dance studio, the giddiness I felt taking Alice to her first lesson absolutely overwhelmed me in the best way. This particular class involves the parent as much as the child and we got to
Alice’s first ballet class, 18mo share in the fun, giggle, dance around to children’s music and even tumble! If you do not have classes available near you or cannot make the commitment, no worries: just YouTube some children’s nursery rhymes/songs, hold you kiddos hands, and dance like no one is watching. You will both have a blast, get some aerobic exercise, and these are the types of memories you will treasure most.
7. And finally, the thing I’m learning about toddlers – they just want to be engaged. Alice enjoys being involved in the most routine and mundane tasks, as long as she gets to do them with me and I remind her how well she’s doing or what a wonderful helper she is. She can take several items of clothing to her designated laundry basket (though at times other objects end up in there), she can take toys back to their designated bins, she
Yup: I was spring cleaning, and Alice was “mopping” the floors brings me objects I may need from another room, she helps me count (even if it’s just how many pillows there are as we make the bed), the list goes on. She gets my attention, she is busy doing something, and she is told how wonderful of a helper she is. Who wouldn’t enjoy that?!
I realize we are only in the early stages of toddlerhood, and many of the things I dread or think I will fail at are still to come and the above activities do not always work, and tantrums (and throwing things on the floor!) still happen. But there is an important fact to remember about toddlers: they are still very, very new human beings, they are learning very rapidly, but are still extremely limited in their ability to express themselves. Whether it’s wants and needs, likes or dislikes, feeling pain or overwhelming emotions, they are not yet equipped to articulate it to us. The more we pay attention and engage with them, the more likely we are to pick up on those toddler cues and perhaps divert a tantrum before it even begins, or learn something new about our own child. (Like yesterday, I found out Alice knows the word “shovel”, something she has not seen before, not heard the word before, and no one in our house actively taught her! Woah!)
We are all exhausted and busy and entertaining out children is not always the easiest thing to do. Especially, when peek-a-boo no longer suffices, independence is on the rise, (I’m pretty sure Alice’s most frequent phrase right now is “by myself”), and opinions are oozing out of this tiny little being that until recently, was pretty damn content with a boob in her mouth and a few funny faces from mom. But really engaging and socializing and playing with your kiddos builds their confidence and ability in self-play, solidifies your relationship further, and frankly is a wonderful opportunity for some deep belly laughs.
What are some of your favorite activities with your kiddos?