What do you do to let your toddler entertain himself while trying to cook dinner?
You let him pile flash cards into the toaster slots, then take pictures of it.
I wasn't terribly fond of the idea at first, but thought a) it isn't plugged in, and b) i don't really have a choice because this sauce needs to be stirred constantly and i can't stop to get him away from the toaster. So he "toasted" some flash cards while saying "hot!" over and over. And over.
Speaking of making dinner, this is just a glimpse of what my living room looks like while I'm in the kitchen slaving away. The scary thing is, this isn't even that bad to me. It's been much worse. I don't know what it is, but I think my being confined to the kitchen for a good 30-45 minutes making dinner gives the kids this idea that they can pull every toy out of every basket or bin because I'm not looking. It makes for some fun clean-up time after dinner, that's for sure.
Speaking of cleaning up... I'd heard this idea from a couple of different sources, and finally decided to give it a try: When your kids go down for their nap/quiet time/bedtime/lock-down in their room, set the timer on the microwave for 15 minutes, and use that time to do as much as you can around the house. I have found this very helpful, because I don't know about you... but once the kids are upstairs in the afternoon for nap/rest time, I've been known to crash on the couch and not get up again for the next 2 hours. Once I'm down, it's reallllly hard to find the motivation to get back up again to do anything, especially chores. Sad, I know. Since I've started this, I rush rush rush around to try to do everything I need to do (this excludes deep-cleaning, time consuming things... I'm talking picking up and doing simple things to make the house neater) and then I have full permission (granted by yours truly) when that timer beeps to crash on the couch for the next 2 hours. It's amazing what can get done in just 15 minutes! I highly suggest you give it a try.
What happens at your house while you're slaving away in the kitchen?
1 comment:
The timer thing is a good idea, I'll have to try that!
When I'm in the kitchen, generally Leiana is either pulling everything out of her one cupboard and throwing it on the floor, or she's crying and trailing around after me with her arms raised (or pullin gon my pant leg) saying, "Mamma, hode jew" (Momma, hold you), which is her way of saying "Hold ME" but she has a ways to go on personal pronouns!
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