Let me start off by saying I absolutely LOVE getting to be home with my babies right now!
I spent almost 3 years being a stay at home mom. We went on walks, to the park, had play dates, explored, and so many other great adventures. We spent as little time home as possible but even when home we had a nice grassy fenced in back yard allowing us to go in and out as much as we wanted.
Then we moved and I got a job as a preschool teacher. (By the way I’m loving my new job and it finally inspired me to finish up what I needed to do to go back to college! I start May 1st!) Anyways we moved to Washington got our town house January 1st and I was hired and started working January 16th. Thus ending my stay at home mom career. The kids love preschool/daycare and I love working at the same school they are located. It makes for the perfect transition from stay at home mom to working mom.
Then quarantine #covid-19 happened. Our school stayed open until March 27th when our director finally decided it was time to close down. We will all miss our students but we knew we’d also enjoy being home with family and knowing we won’t be at risk any longer. But that’s not to stay we wouldn’t have all been happy staying at work because we love our students and their family. Because they are all an extension of our family.
So now that leads me to why I’m writing. It’s now day 14 of quarantine and I can officially admit this type of stay at home parenting is rough. My kids and I love to be social so being home 24/7 is kind of hard.
Here are a few things we’ve been doing to keep entertained.
Bubbles. Lots and lots of bubbles. Preferably with a bubble machine because after a while blowing bubbles is tiring.
Crafts…. Paint even though it’s always a big ordeal and usually leads to a bath. Color with all sorts of different tools. Pencils, markers, crayons, the unconventional chalk on black paper. There are so many options.
Speaking of crafts go outside with chalk and make a mural. Regular chalk, chalk paint, chalk rollers, go crazy! Even use tape to help make a stencil.
Play with playdoh. Have building competitions, animal making competitions, use cookie cutters or other random household objects. Again… Go crazy!
Do yoga, stretching, races, workout indoors and out. Do you work out every day while the kids nap or after they go to bed for the night? Why not try doing it before they go to bed and let them join? It may not be perfect but it may get out the last of the wiggles. And it could cause for a lot of laughs.
Have a bubble bath. Or 3….. Who cares. My kids love the bath with or without bubbles. You could also get bath tub paint or bath tub crayons. Put on swim suits grab a beach towel and turn on tropical music. Pretend you’re at the beach.
Grow and indoor garden. Or an outdoor garden.
I guess what I’m saying is as bored as we are there is still so much fun we can have. It just may take a little extra looking.
Oh! I almost forgot. We make a lot of cookies. And we make fun meals together. My son sits in his high chair playing with a hard spaghetti noodle while my daughter gets on a stool and helps stir the pasta. She really enjoys helping in the kitchen. It also fills about 30 extra minutes of time.
What are you doing to pass the quarantine time?
Talk soon,
Marena
Living Life 