Beating the Stay at Home Boredom

 

 

This school year has brought a lot of changes for our family. For the past 4 years I’ve stayed home with the kids plus watched other people’s kids too. It was easy to plan activities, crafts, and outings because other than nap time we had nothing that had to get done! Last year I started this blog so I learned how to blog during nap times, bed times, and while the kids were happily playing together in the living room.

Now, my oldest is in school for 3 hours a day, and then 3 days of the week we go to his therapies- all of which are an hour away. Most of the time the kids do not have the chance to nap at home anymore because we are on the road, and finding time to blog is a real struggle! It’s a bit hard to blog when I’m not home most of the time!! You’d think for being a “stay at home mom” I’d be home at least half the time?!

 

The other thing I find lacking lately is our crafts and activity time. When I am home it’s usually with my two year old, and getting him interested in crafts and specific activities is a real chore!! I’m used to my oldest son constantly engaging me in activity and wanting to play games, and now my youngest son is happy to do his own thing and doesn’t really understand the concept of games just yet!

It’s a whole new ball game for me!! I was a little disappointed at first, feeling like I wasn’t doing a “good enough” job helping him learn. But lately I’ve come to realize that just because I don’t do activities the same way I did with my oldest doesn’t mean he isn’t learning! He’s just learning differently.

 

From educational apps, hands on toys in the car, and pointing out animals and colors on the playground – I have begun to take a more hands on application point of view with my youngest during the day. He is by far more of a social butterfly than my oldest, and I love encouraging him to find friends wherever we are. Sometimes I wish I could just sit down and blog blog blog away!

But I know my time will come! I have learned to have my little guy help me with the dishes, laundry, we play tag and peek a boo, and I show him animal videos online.

 

 Every child learns and has fun differently. So if you or your child are getting bored staying at home – go out! If you can’t go out try something completely out of the ordinary for your routine! Make a baking soda and vinegar volcano in the bathtub. Dig a hole in the backyard to see what you can find. Play in a bucket of beans, mix food dyes into milk. Read a book, paint (for a more mess free way use washable paints in the bathtub then wash it off!), play pretend, build a rocket, the list is endless!