Last Monday it was like a switch had been flipped inside Baby D and she's been in "hyper" mode ever since! Read this book to me again and again, I don't want to sit still, I fancy spinning around in circles and dancing till I fall over, I've discovered how to open the lounge door and so I want to escape and run around the house, ENTERTAIN ME DADDY!!! You get the picture. I'm showing my age here but it reminds me a bit of Johnny 5 in Short Circuit - "Input, input!".
So yes, I think it's safe to say that now we're dealing with a fully-fledged toddler, gone are the days of having a quiet breakfast or updating my blog while she amuses herself. For me, it's been like every time I've got used to her routine and requirements she moves on to the next stage, leaving me playing catch up again!
I take my hat off to people that manage to run a business from home whilst looking after small children, I don't know how they do it. When I left work to look after Baby D just over a year ago I'd always intended to sell a few bits and pieces on Ebay on a regular basis to generate a bit of extra cash but I just haven't found enough hours in the day to do it. Consequently my cellar is still full of the junk (sorry, no, that should read "quality used items") that I was intending to sell.
Getting out of the house has helped, her playgroup is closed for the summer but we go over to see my family at least once a week and try to meet up with the mums & kids from Mrs D's antenatal group as often as we can. A change of surroundings definitely helps quash the boredom factor for her.
It's been fun thinking up games and ideas for keeping her occupied, a lot of her toys get overlooked if I don't play them with her. For example, she loves her Fisher Price Little People farm but only if I'm sitting next to her making the animal noises and getting involved too. We love drawing pictures, she realised pretty early on that crayons don't taste nice so we've passed that particular hurdle and can concentrate on the drawing. I've even managed to bring chores into it - helping daddy load the washing machine, get the mail, tidy your room, etc.. and she's been pretty receptive (so far!).
TV doesn't play a big part of things and nor should it as far as I'm concerned. She's got a couple of favourite shows which we'll watch together but generally I'll leave it turned off or just put on a music channel, she loves dancing!
I spent the whole of yesterday clearing up our garden but this has already had its reward, we spent half an hour running about outside, I gave Baby D some lunch, put her up for a nap and she was out like a light. Excellent!
When my first child was a baby, I used to meet mothers who worked from home, or did lots of voluntary work or had amazing houses or gardens, and feel terribly inadequate.
ReplyDeleteI did try to do stuff outside of the childcare, but it was all a bit slapdash and the house looked like a bombsite and I couldn't understand what was so marvellous about them and so lacking in me that I couldn't be more serene, organised and well groomed.
But then I would go to their house for a coffee or voluntary job meeting and we'd be there an hour and their child would play amiably on their playmat for the entire time. Meantime my son would have used and discarded 15 toys, the secret emergency toys, been walked around the room 12 times, fed, bounced etc etc. Then the penny dropped why some parents can juggle all these roles, and why some struggle more.
Having said which, I wouldn't change my two VERY high energy children for anything. They are totally full-on from waking to sleeping, but they are a lot of fun, absolutely mental, and the flip side is they sleep like bricks. I just had to wait a little longer to think about things like building my business, but in the scheme of things my fireballs are worth the wait, because the energy they give out is as big as that they demand and I would not swap a thing.
So admire all you like the parents who manage everything, but never criticise yourself for not being them. Your fabulous little energy ball will pay you pack a thousandfold.
Thanks for the comments :) Absolutely, I love my little energy ball just the way she is!
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