SOOOOOOOOO…..now that we are in the THICK of winter, and owing to my usually car-less state…Camper and I have been watching more TV than we should lately. We get up in the morning and after breakfast he says, “Booo! Coooo!” which just happens to be around 7am when two episodes of Blue’s Clues starts. The Nick Jr. morning lineup actually isn’t that bad. Especially when my eyes are closed. Granted, he does run around and play while watching, but it’s on. And he watches it. Then naptime, then back to the living room after lunch at 1 for some more stuff on the DVR while I try to vacuum, do laundry, read, etc. That lasts at least another hour or until whenever PopPop gets home, then La La, then Daddy and we have some actual PEOPLE to concentrate on. But the TV is usually on.
Noticing the way the TV has encroached on our lives lately, today I took drastic measures. I kept it off. This morning after breakfast the child and I went upstairs. We folded laundry. I let Camper run around in just his cloth diaper with no cover (we’re learning “wet” and “dry”) and then we went through ALL HIS STUFFED ANIMALS saying their names and making their noises. Then he went in his room for about 20 minutes and clunked around while I checked email, etc. And then it was 8am. Sigh. So we played with the soccer ball, he took a BAP and then got half an episode of Booo! Coooo! while I took a shower. It’s kind of nice to be able to shower with him up and running around these days, even if right before I got in he did run into the bathroom and fell forehead first into the toilet.
Ouch.
He took a nap and then we played with La La, went grocery shopping, and then got home for dinner and FINALLY some brain-less time with the TV on.
So yeah. I need some more fun activities to do with my kiddo. I looked some things up, so we’ll see how it goes. I just haven’t been that motivated to turn the TV off and figure out games to play lately. I think it’s the winter doldrums. So we’re turning the the stereo more, playing with specific toys, reading MORE books (is it even possible?) and I’m starting to think about things like shower crayons and…well…that’s about it. It’s so hard when the temperature reads below the “safe” range for taking him outside for a bit. Super sigh.
And some of you have started to write about Spring. Not here. Not til at least April.
If you have any 17 mo. old friendly activities in mind, do share! I’d love to try something new.
Seriously. Seriously. I have lost all motivation to be supermommy. I’m just trying to find classes or something. Something to get us out at least a few times a week. I HATE IT. Don’t have an answer, let me know if you find one.
Bleh.
Does your ward have a play group? I basically live in Provo South down here in Mesa meaning that we all live really super close in our ward and our ward boundaries are very small. We have play group at a near by park every Wednesday at 10am. It’s super nice bc the kids can run wild and play and the moms can chat it up and we all get outside. :) Just somethin I like to do that isn’t TV bc I have my TV addiction too. :) haha!
I have a class of 5 2.5 – 3 year olds from 9 to 6 Mon-Fri. There is no TV in the room or even in the building and for 90% of that time, we are in the classroom.
We read books together, we draw with crayons, chalk, paint, and I make them into things from the books since they can only scribble. We make things with playdough, we play with balls, we go to a playroom and ride bikes, run around and do yoga. We do a sensory activity every day such as playing with feathers/sand/bubbles/lotion. We dress up, we sing – a new song every week, we dance and play with musical instruments such as bells and tamborines. We make animal noises, learn colors, learn our abc’s, learn body parts, vehicles, animals etc. Play I Spy, do puzzles, play with lego and other connecting shapes. We eat morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack, we have 4 diaper changes and we take a nap.
I take a lot of photos of them doing activities so that they remember what they have done. These go on the walls at their level and they love to look at them.
In lots of ways it is easier with 5 of them, because you can get them all to join in but in many other ways it is harder too if they are all grumpy or mean.
They love to help clean the table, floor and windows and I find that I should never underestimate what they take in. I ask a gzillion questions a day and answer a similar amount.
No TV is really not bad. There is plenty for a young mind to do :)
Ok everyone, I got some really interesting ideas between here and Facebook- so watch for the MASTER LIST of wintertime mindsavers coming soon. I might have to adapt some for our climate (Krisin…so jealous you can GO OUTSIDE!!! ;) ) Then I’m going to try and DO some of the stuff you suggested. It’ll be like Julie and Julia except with Play Doh and bathtub crayons.