Saturday, March 28, 2009

QUESTION

Okay all of you moms out there with 2+ kiddos. Here's a question for you (ESPECIALLY those of you who can relate to what I'm about to describe):

How in the WORLD do you keep a child entertained indoors who is not a home-body (like his mama) and who would MUCH prefer being outside (but it's still too cold sometimes), when buying an obscene amount of toys is not an option? And HOW do you do this at home while trying to let your newborn learn how to sleep and get on a schedule in his bed?

The big dilemma is that my Benito would rather be running around town, hanging out with other kiddos on play dates, going for walks, playing at the park, etc. He likes our backyard, but that isn't always an option with the spring weather, and he doesn't stay still for more than a minute unless the TV is on, and I'm trying hard not to resort to that if I don't have to. But truth be told, I'm stuck. I have yet to be alone with both boys for a full day and this is the main reason why. It's TOUGH keeping my kid entertained. He has a short attention span (seems exceptionally short at times) and he doesn't sit and play with toys for longer than 5-10 minute stretches. He bounces from one thing to another and is bored with being inside pretty quickly.

So what do you guys do? Do you have specific activities you do at specific times of day? (i.e. now we're doing puzzles for 15 minutes, now we're reading books, now we're watching a 30 minute show, etc.) Do you have a million kazillion toys that you rotate through? Do you sit them in front of the TV all morning? Because I'm lost right now.

This is a short phase right now, I know, when Jasper needs so much sleep, but I'd really like to figure out how to make it work with both my boys, and really, I'd like to start teaching Bennett how to stick to one activity for a little longer, but don't know how to go about it. I feel like I'm missing out on a big fat secret when it comes to playing with my little buddy, so somebody please let me in on it!

4 comments:

Lori said...

obviously i have NO advice on this topic yet, but i will be checking back to see if others do!! :)

Emily said...

Someone suggested to me putting a basket of special toys, coloring stuff, etc. together that your older kiddo is only allowed to play with at a special time (baby's naptime, feeding, etc) that way it is a fun treat when they get it. We loaded up on some stuff at the dollar store and used that awesome bag Mindy gave us to do this until Maelie got more used to me being tied up. She gets to finish whatever she's doing when the feeding is done, then we put it up until next time.

Unknown said...

jenn, blake was 4 when cade was born (and he was a winter baby), and though it might raise some eyebrows, the tv was our best friend. but i didn't just set him down in front of it and go about my day. i picked a couple shows that he loved, and i made those times "our time." when sesame street came on, i turned off the phone, i didn't get off the couch. i used every "educational" thing they did and enhanced it to make it "more" - he learned so much during that hour each morning! it's different when you're doing it WITH him, because you can talk about things and make them your own - not like you're using the tv as a babysitter. i got to the point where i so looked forward to sesame street time - because it was totally uninterrupted time with blake while cade slept.

of course, he was also into a "cat" phase during that time...so when i had a migraine, i could just put a couple bowls on the floor with cereal and water or milk, and he'd be happy for hours.

you'll figure it out. give yourself some more time as you all figure out how to do this family of 4 thing. you'll get there. promise.

Haley said...

Cade was like that when we had Cam and so I went and got some (like 10) cheap coloring books an dcrayons, and then a bucket of those foam stinker things and would give him "a big boy project" for daddy and I would have him make "cards" for people throughout the day when he needed to be entertained and I couldn't help him at that moment. Just a thought! Plus they always love making something for someone else, my kids can't wait for dad to get home so they can give him their presents!