My Attempt at Stay-at-Home Mothering
I'll be honest with you. I'm kind of a lazy mother. I'm lazy and I'm not very creative in the area of toddler entertainment. I have friends who stay home full-time with their children—even multiple children—who've cultivated an arsenal of crafts, activities and games that not only result in sweet little keepsake projects but make the time with their kids seem all glowy and soft-focus.
That's how the pictures on Facebook look, anyway.
While we were snowed in for what seemed like eight months this winter, I'd use my lunch break to relieve my husband of toddler duty and attempt some earth-mothery bonding activities with Anna, who's almost 3. I'll tell you how that would usually go:
Monday: Bake bread! Anna loves to help knead. I assemble ingredients, add to mixer, answer the question, "When are we gonna KNEAD IT MAMA?" for entire duration of first rise (approximately 90 minutes).
Tuesday: Memory game! She's quite good at this game, so I take out the set of cards and we begin placing them face down on the floor. Within .002 seconds the cards are flung far and wide, Anna is beside herself because one stuck to her foot, she falls trying to hop away from it, hysterics ensue, game over.
Wednesday: Yogurt making! Note on this one: Kids don't really care to watch yogurt cultivate in the oven for six hours. Moving on.
Thursday: Painting. Thursday is when I fell deeply in love with a Magic Eraser.
By Friday I've got a loaf of bread, a quart of yogurt, a decimated memory game and walls that look like a crime scene spatter pattern. My kid is still deep in the throes of stage-four cabin fever, my husband is exhausted, and I'm out of ideas.
That's your cue: How do you keep your kids entertained when you're one-on-one (or two, three ...), and please, tell me it's not always the way it seems on Facebook.
That's how the pictures on Facebook look, anyway.
While we were snowed in for what seemed like eight months this winter, I'd use my lunch break to relieve my husband of toddler duty and attempt some earth-mothery bonding activities with Anna, who's almost 3. I'll tell you how that would usually go:
Monday: Bake bread! Anna loves to help knead. I assemble ingredients, add to mixer, answer the question, "When are we gonna KNEAD IT MAMA?" for entire duration of first rise (approximately 90 minutes).
Tuesday: Memory game! She's quite good at this game, so I take out the set of cards and we begin placing them face down on the floor. Within .002 seconds the cards are flung far and wide, Anna is beside herself because one stuck to her foot, she falls trying to hop away from it, hysterics ensue, game over.
Wednesday: Yogurt making! Note on this one: Kids don't really care to watch yogurt cultivate in the oven for six hours. Moving on.
Thursday: Painting. Thursday is when I fell deeply in love with a Magic Eraser.
By Friday I've got a loaf of bread, a quart of yogurt, a decimated memory game and walls that look like a crime scene spatter pattern. My kid is still deep in the throes of stage-four cabin fever, my husband is exhausted, and I'm out of ideas.
That's your cue: How do you keep your kids entertained when you're one-on-one (or two, three ...), and please, tell me it's not always the way it seems on Facebook.
Provided byBrenna Jennings
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