Family Fun, Recipes, & Healthy Living
If you didn’t know, I used to be a teacher until I went part time. I taught special education and early education prior. Being a birth through 5 major I learned a lot of about early development and the importance of play. Here are some …
We love spending time outside. As spring slowly moves into summer we are transitioning from our winter coat and hat to our top 5 summer must haves. 1.Sunhats are the best because they give coverage to the head, face, ears and sometimes even the neck. Izzy …
Dear Husband,
I wanted to let you know how my day went and typically goes.
At 6 am my alarm went off and I went to the gym, before you or the baby were awake. By 6:45 I was jumping in the car so I could get home and shower before the baby was awake. I showered in peace, but also in fear the baby would wake up and I’d be rushing my semi uninterrupted shower.
It’s 7:10 and like clock work that baby is starting to make noises so I’m hustling over to her room. I change her and if her sheets are wet from a leaked diaper I throw her sheets and mattress cover into the wash. She’s now dressed and after reading a couple books she selected we are heading down for breakfast.
It’s about 7:20/30 and since our child refuses to be put down until after she eats her breakfast I crack and egg one handed and scramble it on the stove top, meanwhile Izzy is on my hip. She and I blow on her eggs to cool them and I let her start eating, while I piece her cup together for her morning milk. I washed it last night. After I hand her the milk, I’m chopping or prepping fruit or maybe I prepped it last night so all I have to do is dump some in her plate, mom win! Meanwhile as she eats I’m washing any dishes that didn’t get cleaned up last night or cleaning up any toys I hadn’t gotten to so she and I have a fresh start to our day.
7:45/8:00 and she is done eating. I get 15-20 minutes of her eating IF I’m lucky. What does your mom call her, oh ya a “chow hound”. HA! Yes, you know she loves to eat and shovels her food! Anyway, now I get out a few toy choices on the carpet and of course she can access more toys from her toy baskets. Now once she’s settled I rush back to the kitchen to continue to tidy the mess from breakfast before she realizes I left her “area”.
We spend the morning playing and or she plays with something while I tidy up or throw laundry in the wash. If we are lucky we get a play date and escape the house for a little bit and bonus she comes home extra tired for nap. Oh and somewhere in this mix we had lunch along with a morning snack.
That’s the morning… are you exhausted yet?
Now it’s nap time so it’s about 12:30/1pm and I’m part time so I sit down and work. I work until she’s up from nap and once she wakes up I change her, put her in her highchair for her snack and as she wakes up and eats snack I continue to work.
As you know our child is needy and the afternoons she wants FULL attention. She’s great at independent play, but by 3:30/4 she wants me to play with her or be holding her while I prep and cook dinner. If I was smart or had the energy I already prepped some for dinner the night before i.e. chopped veggies. So at 3:30 it’s time to prep dinner, yes you heard me right. I know we don’t eat until about 5:30 but it can take me 2 hours to cook dinner. Why? She wants me to take breaks and play or wants me to hold her and one handed cooking is not easy, or she’s running to the stairs and already going up the bottom step, wait now she’s in the dogs water bowl and dumping it all over the house. If we have time between dinner prep and dinner we go outside, per her request.
It’s about 5:30 and dinner is served.
6ish we all finish up, you either take some dishes over and wash or have to go back to your computer to get more work done. So I clean up with or without you and clean up Izzy. Then if you don’t have extra work we can go outside together and play. If it’s yucky out we play in the living room together. That’s my favorite part of the day, when we get to play as a family.
6:45/7 Izzy has her night time poop, I change her and you get the tub started, but if you are working I change her and get the tub started and when she’s in her pjs you come up to love on her and read her books.
7:20/30 It’s bedtime! I made it, kind of. It’s now time for me to work then get a little tv time in with you.
It’s been a long day, this isn’t a complaint and I’m happy with my life. I actually LOVE my life and I’m so grateful for our beautiful, intelligent, curious, and energetic baby. I’m thankful you worked so hard to get us to a place where I could be part time while caring for Izzy. I love you so much and hope you can appreciate my busy day.
XO,
Your Loving Wife
Tantrums… your baby, toddler or child hasn’t had one yet? THEY WILL! I give you 3 tips to help you survive and overcome tantrums. 1.Give your toddler/child choices. Yes YOU are going to give them 2 or 3 choices. First be sure you are okay with …
Easter is over and you have all of those eggs left! If you are like me they are still all over your house and have been great entertainment for your little. Before you throw them out, donate or pack them away. Here are 5 ways …
You all know I have a busy baby, hence her nickname Busy Izzy…
Did you also know I worked from home full time her whole life until the end of March? Yes I’m finally part time working from home and I’m beyond excited.
So how do you keep a baby busy so you can get things done? I’m going to give you my top 5 tips that worked during meetings, cooking dinner, washing dishes etc.
1.Only put 2-3 toys out at a time. Everyone gets overwhelmed and sometimes less is more. Your baby/toddler will be more engaged if there are fewer items out to entertain them. Not to mention then you can put those 2-3 away when they are no longer interested and pull out the others (if your baby is like Izzy you just bought yourself another 5+ minutes).
2.The cupboards are your friends! Have a designated cupboard that your child knows they are aloud to open and go in. Urge and encourage them to open and play in that specific place when you are in the kitchen. I have plastic containers and measuring cups in there. You want items that you find safe and I know that is different for every mom. This is always a fun activity for Izzy and I can keep a close eye on her while I am cooking or cleaning the kitchen.
3.Pull out the electronics, yes I said it! Call the mom police! But seriously, it’s okay to use a little technology to keep your baby occupied while your hands are covered in raw chicken or you are in a meeting for work. The iPad and iPhone both have guided access which allow you the ability to keep you child in a certain app or watching a certain show or movie. It’s pretty awesome!
4.Change of scenery is key! When your baby starts to become bored it might be time for a new place in the home. Go to a new space with new toys and bring your laundry there to fold or your computer to work. I jump from the living room with toys, to kitchen cupboards to her bedroom or her playroom. I have even taken Izzy outside with her water table so I could get some work done.
I hope you found these tips helpful but I’m eager to hear from you. What things do you do to occupy your baby?
XO Eryka