- Watercolors can usually get me 30 minutes of quiet time to get something done.
- MAKING COOKIES. My kids love to help me make cookies (or anything edible for that matter), even if it's only so they can reap the benefits of cookie dough. Then we send them off to work with daddy.
- Playdough, both non-edible and edible! If I don't need to keep them clean, then we make peanut butter playdough. Otherwise, we break out the regular stuff and mommy's cookie cutters :-)
Peanut Butter Playdough
*Big scoop of peanut butter
*Big squirt/spoonful of honey
*Powdered milk, enough to make a playdough consistency
Stir them all together and that's it!
Add fun little Teddy Grahams for added fun to play in the playdough (and inevitably get eaten as well)
Regular Playdough
*1 cup of flour
*1/2 cup salt
*2 tsp. cream of tartar
*1 cup of water
*1 Tbsp. oil
Mix all ingredients in small saucepan. cook over medium heat about 3 minutes or until desired consistency. Mixture will pull away from sides of pan. Add food color and knead to blend. Store in airtight bag or container.
-What about play with their toys and books? Well, that's a given. The amount of time I get varies depending on how invested they are in their activity. It sometimes come down to the girls dragging me away from my chores to play with them or my eldest talking my ear off to know every detail about what I'm doing. That's why I'm curious if any of you have tricks to getting chores like cleaning the bathroom (where I use cleaners I would prefer them to not touch and/or get on their clothes) or sweeping, without "shadows".... which the electronic babysitter ends up being my downfall :-(
(Did I mention my 3 1/2 year old hasn't done naptime for a year now???)
My sister-in-law taught me about the “after-bed spruce”. That’s when after your kids have gone to bed you spend NO MORE than 30 mins on a house “hot spot” (those places you just can’t get to during the day and just gets out of control- like that stack of papers on your desk is hidden under) or “spruce” (pick up children-related messes that otherwise would just stick around). When I first witness her doing thsi I thought she was CRAZY.
ReplyDeleteThen I had kids and she became Wonder Woman.
Every night is different for me. Some nights it’s the dinning room, living room or upstairs bathroom. You’d be amazed how much you can get done in 30 mins. And it’s nice to wake up to a somewhat clean house or in your case, bathroom. :)