clueless
I've run out of ideas of things to do with erica. i dont have a clue...
It makes me feel like a bad mom, but i just dont know what to do with our days. i always run out of "activities," which means she's running around on her own and getting into trouble.
Part of the problem is that she's no longer sleeping to 9 or 10. At least she's not getting up right at 7 anymore... but its sometime between 7:30 and 8:00. Which has two drawbacks:
1) I dont have lots of free time in the morning to do stuff
2) The morning goes SOOOOO slow!!
which is what i'm talking about now. The morning goes on and on and on. I constantly look at the clock to see if its lunch time yet, so i can feed her and put her in her crib for a nap. [She now only does an afternoon nap, always after lunch, and not a morning nap.] But when i look at the clock, its only 9:30! or 10!
I did so many things with her this morning, but still ended up having lunch at 11:15 b/c i had run out of things to do. When she woke up, she and i made french toast-- which takes longer than the normal bowl of cereal. Then she had a bath, and i left her in there for what seemed like an eternity. Then we emptied the dishwasher and put the dirty ones in. She stopped for a snack of applesauce. Played with playdough. Then she watched a Strawberry Shortcake DVD. Then we came to the basement. And it was only 10:15!!!
We had visited every room in the house!!! And it was still morning! I had no idea what else to do. No clue. When the clock finally struck 11, i started getting her lunch ready. She ate from 11:15 till about 11:30 [she's slow]. Then we colored with markers. I set the timer for 11:45, and when it went off we cleaned up. And now she's asleep.
Seriously, i need ideas. Yesterday was the same way. She had a long bath, she helped make Jello, we had a tea party... but i eventually ran out of ideas and it wasnt even lunch time yet.
Maybe i'll make apple slices with her this afternoon. I have a bunch of apples that arent the type that i like, so they arent getting eaten. I figure that we might eat them if they're dried.
8 comments:
I HATE THIS NEW BLOGGER! all of my cool sidebar things are now gone.
stupid... blogger...
Erica has such big beautiful eyes! (I was looking at the pictures you put up in your last post) :)
As for ideas, hmm how about taking her to a storytime at your local library?
Sad day about the sidebars, Becks.
The pics of Erica are adorable! I loved spending time w/ yall on Monday!
And ask Rachel for some fun activity ideas. I'm sure she has bunches of ideas.
becky-- [haha, i'm commenting to my own comment] To make matters worse, now my Zwinky wardrobe has disappeared.
'liya-- i do take erica to the library when they have the kids' time. but its not every week. starting in march, they will have a weekly program that goes for 8 weeks or so.
abby-- good idea! our sister-in-law DID have a college education in "early childhood."
Maybe you could take her to a nursing home for volunteer time. It's never to early to start and the residents might love having a little visitor to coo over.
i FINALLY was able to fix my sidebar. THANK GOODNESS! my zwinky wardrobe is still missing though. i need to put everything back together manually, which could take forever.
--crazy me: thats actually a good idea.
i need to go now; erica's awake
Hi Becky!! Well, I'll recommend an hour of TV if she'll watch it.
I think you're putting too much emphasis on doing things WITH her.
I know you say she runs around and gets into trouble, but she does need to explore on her own a bit. She needs the freedom of not being "watched over" and "monitored" at all moments. Cut yourself some slack. Can you shut her in a room with you while you read or e-mail and let her play by herself for a bit? She needs to learn to do that.
Riley runs about - living room to bedroom and back all morning while his Mom catches up on TV, bills, cooking, cleaning etc. (and new baby now) He does really well on his own. If she can't see him and he gets quiet, THEN she checks on him.
Don't stress yourself with having to keep her occupied. That's too much. Start her off at 15 or 30 minutes of Erica time. Give yourself a break.
Hugs and love and best of luck.
clairissa-- you are SOOOO lucky that he sleeps so much. wow.
clairissa AND agnes-- erica does play by herself a lot. she knows how to entertain herself. but still, i'd like to do more things with her. i just never seem to have any ideas. plus, if she's just playing by herself, i tend to get bored... and if i try doing something [like dishes or reading], she immediately demands my attention.
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