What does your day look like with a 1 year old?

[nevviemama]

In the eating and sleeping sections I found postings to add what your toddlers sleep looked like and what they ate daily, but I haven't seen anything for activity and I'm curious of the types of things that others do with their lo's during the course of a day. How much time do you play with them versus independent play? For example today:

- Independent play in living room while I watched morning news (same room but she doesn't really pay attention to the tv - curious if other moms do this!)
- Kitchen for breakfast - plays with tray toy while I make breakfast for both of us
- Watched Hi-5 - on everyday at 9am for 30 min and she really seems to like it - lots of songs.
nap
- wake and snack
- got ready and went out on errands for 2 hrs
- home and lunch
- play with mummy and intermittently did a few things around the house while interacting with her
nap - had trouble here
woke very cranky and was clingy - tried a snack, then some extra cuddles and close play
- took her to the park for an hour
- home and dinner
- playtime with daddy
-bed

I'm not really 'away' from her at any point in the day - odd times include bathroom, throw in laundry, do something in the kitchen (she can't get there - it's gated because of some renos). But even if I'm not playing with her, I'm usually in the same room as her. Do other moms do this too? She's only ever had a touch of SA, but does follow me or hang around the bottom of the stairs and sometimes calls when I'm up there. And even when I'm upstairs I glance down (open stairs) to check her even though the rooms she's in are safe zones.

[~Natalie~]

My day is not too dissimilar to yours.  I try to get out once a day on an errand or something, and if the weather is nice we play outside for about 30min or so, sometimes longer.  I am usually in the same room as DS but sometimes in the kitchen when he is in the fam room (divided by stairs which he can now go up and down at will so it is not really an obstacle anymore).

I pretty much will put him down to do independent play and just let him go until he crawls over and wants some attention.  We then read books, sing songs, mess around, till he crawls away and plays on his own again.  I usually read a book, do laundry, or other chores while he plays in the room with me.  I try to keep the tv off.

HTH

[nevviemama]

Well put - exactly how it happens here. She plays, walks around, comes to give me something and we play a bit, she goes off. There are days when tv is off all day, and rare days when it's on a bit (when I really need a break or she's very cranky). Otherwise I only turn on for the one show, and a bit of news for me in the am. I'm reconsidering that too - I can always take a peek at the news when she's down for a nap.

[newmom11]

i have a 15 month old son and i have the news on in the morning for about 25 minutes or so and then the tv is off the rest of the day.  i have to say that i always struggle w/ what to do with my son all day too.  he doesn't play by himself very long, so when i'm home, i usually sit in the floor next to him while he plays.  a lot of times i have to direct him to a new toy or activity b/c he's not so good at finding things to do on his own.  we read A LOT of books.  he loves to pick out a book and crawl in my lap and read.  if he's playing by himself, i'll try to slip out and do something, but this doesn't last very long.  we get out of the house once a day...just for a change of scenery.  i also rotate his toys every two weeks so that he doesn't grow tired of his toys.  do any of you find though that your lo's don't entertain themselves for very long?  it seems that my lo's attention span is so short.  he may play w/ something for 5-10 minutes and then he's looking for me to show him something else to do.  anybody else out there dealing w/ this?  i'm trying to encourage more independent play.  also what do you guys do w/ your lo's when you do play w/ them?  i feel like so much of it is just sitting next to them and watching them play and talking/singing w/ them while they are playing.

[nevviemama]

So funny - very similar! In the am while I'm having a coffee she plays and I sit on the couch and check email etc (computer is tucked on a small table out of reach otherwise she'd get at it!). She'll come and go, maybe bring stuff to me, and I'll give her a bit of attention and she'll walk away. Often I also sit on the floor and we'll read, sing interactive songs, cuddles, peekaboo (I'll go around the house with this and she'll follow me). If she knows I'm accessible (i.e dining room, kitchen) then she tries to engage me; if I have to go somewhere off-limits she plays a bit on her own but eventually comes to find me...
Other than going out, I'll bring her up to my room to goof around on our bed. She has a few baskets of toys, so I keep some in each room in case she wanders. Recently I bought a wooden tray toy so just before a meal I sit her into her chair and she plays with it.
I guess we're all intuitively doing similar stuff so it's gotta be somewhat right. I talk to her a lot, naming things etc. So I'm sure they're just soaking it all in. I have noticed though that when she's well fed and rested, she tends to play on her own longer, and some days she seems more independent and others not. Depends on her mood I guess!