Tell me how your day goes....

[~Emma~]

 I am really struggling with things to do for DS and I. Our days are loooooong and nearing the end if the day I am falling into the tv trap with him. ( Not to mention the time after breakfast he sits at the tv!) He is not interested in crafts of any kind ie drawing etc. Every second day we go a nature walk with the dogs and he runs about like crazy. He has 2 x am's at nursery. The rest of the time we are both bored.


 How does your day go with your toddler? Are your days/weeks structured in any way?

[mum101]

We have a rough weekly routine, mon - wed is day care days while I work. Thursday is playgroup in the morning and big rest in the afternoon.  Friday is kindergym in the morning as an outing for us all, and we sometimes go to McDonalds for a play with a friend before we go home. 

On our home days, if the kids are rattly and restless after afternoon tea we often go to the library to break the cycle.

When it's school holidays and playgroup and kindergym doesn't run, we usually meet up with mums from family and playgroup. 

I usually find the full morning is enough to get us through the day, with the kids wanting to hang out at home after. 

[shivi]

at the moment am in my mum's and finding we've kind of found a schedule for here...

Ozzie up at crack of dawn (usually 6-ish) and plays a game on my phone till 7, then brekkie in front of tv till Emma and I wake up (8-ish). then our brekkies as Ozzie sorts himself, gets dressed and brushes his teeth. I pop in the shower while Emma still eats her toast or fruit or smth, get her ready and we are out the door by 9.30.

I am adamant not to spend big money (my dad thinks the kids are BORED but they're not at all) so we go for long walks - in wellies - splashing in puddles, feed the ducks and swans on the canal and get back for around 11.30, get lunch on (smth easy as mum is in work and dad is disabled so doesn't have the power to do much), get Emma down for her nap around 12-12.30 and Ozzie does some quiet activities like painting or colouring and then a computer game on cbeebies if he's been good and in the afternoon we head out again after a snack like to the local football pitch and playground and don't come back until 5.30ish when my mam's been home an hour and has the dinner ready for us and then baths and bed....

such a treat not having to think about cooking or ironing in my mums and even better next week as she's on hols as well....

at home, Emma also does two "outings" with the childminder, one before and one after nap/lunch....

Ozzie always watches tv with his brekkie as its the only way to allow Emma, DH and I to sleep or E and DH  to sleep and me to get ready for work as usually I am also up at 6.15am. And I allow them another 20-30 mins before bed at home so I can get a few desperate things sorted.

Oscar didn't start true quiet time until around 3.5 and now that both his concentration and fine motor skills are as good as they are he will sit happily and quietly painting rainbows and buses (!?!) for up to an hour.....my parents are shocked at the change in him.

S x

[JayLeigh]

I am facing the same issue, I try to have something to do constantly, but it is so difficult to fill up the day, especially since I do not always have a car, and we do not live within walking distance to much!

We have TV time at breakfast, and I try to shut it off after not TOO long. We frequently go outside, and I let him explore, lunch and nap. We recently got a baby pool, he loves that, but it is a chore to take him swimming. He also finally loves books so whenever he wants some lap time with a book I never turn him down.

Afternoons are where is gets tricky for me, it is so hard not to turn on the TV!!

I am starting mommy/me swimming classes 2 morning a week soon. But I am chiming in on this thread as we are often bored and housebound and looking for fun activities.

[momtonb&ab]

we have a bit of structure -

in the mornings after breakfast they play (inside in winter, outside in summer) with toys while i clean up the kitchen and sort out what we need for the day.  then we spend a bit of time with errands/chores but i let them help me (even though it takes a lot longer that way). so sorting the laundry becomes a game where one has to get all the white things ina  pile while the other has to get all the dark things in a pile.   you wouldn't believe how good they are at it !!!  then we go out - but again, i do my errands and plan one fun thing on the errands for them (be it a stop at the park, or being allowed to put the shopping in the basket).  home for lunch, quiet time is reading (or on a special day a kids show), then outside to play again.   when they start getting frustrated or bored i give them an activity (like Anne's idea of the small tin of water and a paintbrush, or the sprinkler, or i go out and play ball with them.  if it is rainy, we paint - they love fingerpainting and dollar stores have cheap wood things they can paint with a brush (and Grandparents go NUTS to get this stuff in the mail so it doesn't clutter up my house )....we then do a short television stint before dinner if they are getting tired and cranky - then dinner, a little walk or bike ride, bath and story, bed.   

i don't believe in spending money on activiites for them yet, there will be lots of time for that - i have even let them 'help' me clean the pots and pans cupboard and they loved it.........(and it was pretty clean when they were done all things said and done.  another day i gave them all my ikea bag clips out of the drawer and soem shoelaces - they spent 2 hours !!! clipping those things on the strings and off again.  dh gave them sponges and let them help wash the floor - they LOVE that.  and they love sorting the recycling too - all things we do that help them learn but are helping me too.   

ok, i just reread and it looks like i work them hard but truthfully, they love doing that sort of thing! 

[teilvnav]

We have a loose 'schedlue' for the week, but it is flexible. Monday is always my housework day, as DH being home all weekend destroys the place (he is an utter slob). Tuesday is when I do any baking for the next week. Wednesday is our playdate with a friend all afternoon, and Thursday and Friday are open. Now DH is off work on Mondays and Fridays for the summer, so that will condense things a bit.

Basically Nathan wakes me up in the morning and he has a bottle, and about an hour later I make us breakfast. He loves to eat out on our deck, so if weather permits we do this. Then I do the dishes and tidy while he plays with his toys and our cats. Then we play together, go out for a walk, and/or play in our backyard until his nap. After he wakes up we do things like our weekly playdate, shopping, etc... I like to keep it chill and at home in the mornings if we are here alone. If DH is off work, we usually go for a family walk in the mornings. He has a snack at about 4:00, we eat dinner at about 6:00, and his bedtime routine starts at 7:00. When DH gets home from work, he takes care of DS while I have a break/get supper ready/etc.

I try not to let him watch too much tv, especially when he is so easily entertained, but it can be hard. We go to the library a lot, and he plays with the toys in the children's department. I bought a few toys for the backyard that he loves... a toddler climbing slide, a water activity table, and a little pool. And a little chair for him to sit in.

[kayra]

when DS wakes up he generally hangs out with DH and I in our bedroom till DH goes to work. Then it's breakfast, clear up, getting dressed, putting on laundry kind of things. If we aren't going out in the morning I try to play with him a little bit and then he has room-time. We close the gate in his room so he plays by himself a bit so I can shower or do emailing kind of things. Sometimes he lasts a while sometimes barely half an hour. then chores, cooking, playing till lunch. He likes play-doh, or playing with his plastic animals. Also newly into making towers with duplo. That being said I do get a bit bored too, so if we're home in the am I definitely try to go out after his nap, a walk in the park, or going to the butchers, something. he also gets a dvd in the afternoon for 30min max. Another thing we've unfortunately begun doing is sitting at the computer with him. It's actually not that bad, we look at family pictures, or we go to google.images and he says what he'd like to see pictures of and we look at he-copters or stars etc. He is just SO into computers, I don't like encouraging it, but it's hard to completely refuse it.
Now in the heat I sometimes fill water in his ikea bath tub and put that on the balcony with toys. That entertains him for quite a while, oh and watering the flowers which is actually drenching some and ignoring others Water playing is a huge hit for sure! If you have a garden definitely try it.
He likes to help hoover and empty the dishwasher etc, so basically any chore I try to do with him, he comes and goes but at least it's not impossible to do it with him.
I also try and visit people or have someone come over.
that's all I can think of for now, hope it helps

[RachelC]

Have you read through this?

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=70743.0

There are so many many many fantastic ideas in here (Aisling's are awesome - I was always in awe of what she did!)

 

[lilac83]

The mornings are usually pretty lazy for us. After breakfast I turn on Dora for about a hour while I check some stuff online and shower. Usually we get outside by about 10am and she swings, plays in the sandbox, goes down her toddler slide, we go for a walk, play at a park or play in water. After nap she has snack. Between snack and the time DH gets home is usually only about 1.5hrs, so we'll play in the living room, she'll color, paint, play with play dough. She's finally getting old enough to play some preschool type games. I just bought her Elefun today (she LOVES it) and she also plays a simplified version of Memory (I lay about 6 cards face up and have her match the pairs). After dinner we'll do family things, go in our pool, walk, run errands if we need to.

I signed her up for preschool two mornings per week and that's helped out my sanity a lot. It does get pretty boring and repetitive most days though, for me more than for her. This winter I might add another morning of preschool or sign her up for a mommy and me type class.

[~Emma~]

 Thanks for all the input. Everyone's days are pretty much the same as mine to be honest. I am just so bored with it. i cant actually wait until the Summer holidays are over and the toddler groups start again so we can add something else into the mix!

[deckchariot]

summer does make it harder - we've lost some of our regular activities too.  But we try to get out every morning - library story time, or just go to the library - our kids sections have toys too, so we read, she plays a bit, I chat with other moms.  If it's not too hot, we'll go to the park.  One morning we do grocery shopping, one morning is stay at home and do housework day.  She still naps, so when she wakes up, it's cuddle time (that's the only time she'll cuddle), then snacks and play time or run some errands time, then she helps me with dinner, then after dinner is playtime with daddy, then bath and bed.

I do live in an area where there's lots of stuff for kids to do that's free, so each week I go online and see what's happening and take advantage of as much as I can.  don't know what it's like in your area though.