Image courtesy of Ron Bird / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Currently I’m a work-at-home mom and since my three-year-old son goes to preschool only three days a week, that means there are two days where I have to entertain him and try to get work done at the same time.
Simply put, it’s a hard balance.
I don’t want to ignore him for two hours while I work, but doing the whole stop-start thing makes me batty. I can usually get him to work at the table next to me for an hour or so and then we can have fun, but some days he just wants to play outside and who am I to say, “Um, no, sit here and watch Mommy type.” Booooring.
My problem is compounded now that the weather is getting colder. We’ve had about six straight days of temperatures in the upper 30s and since we’re in November, I don’t anticipate it getting much warmer. We need to find stuff to do indoors and quick! I’ve done a little research and here’s what I have on our agenda this winter:
1) Fun time at the library: I fooled around and missed the deadline for signing up for storytime (shoot!) but our local library has enough things to do that hopefully it won’t be a problem. They have puzzles, trains, coloring books, a couple aquariums and yes, tons of books. We usually head there at least once a week and leave with an armful of books. My son is in love with the fact that the books are free (one of the first words he learned how to spell) and that there are no restrictions on how many we can take home.
2) Bounce the day away: Are your kids like mine and simply adore inflatables? We go to the local “bouncy house” place around the corner for their drop-in sessions and for $5 my son gets to jump to his heart’s content. As an extra bonus, he’s usually pretty tired afterward, which guarantees me at least an hour of quiet time while he’s knocked out.