Trapped toddler parents of the fabled Winter 2020/2021. Puddle suits at the ready..hello Christmas!

[footprintsintheslow]

New thread as the other one is running out.

A place to find find and share ideas of how to get through these crazy times with lockdowns and babies and toddlers.

New members welcome.

Ladies I hate to brag but tonight, for the first time since she was born 12w ago DD is asleep before midnight. In her next to me.
Now, do I use this additional hour of the day where I’m not patting her bum/feeding/mopping up sick to have a quickie with DP, sleep or work on my next embroidery idea?

@BertieBotts It snowed and he wanted to go out for a walk but then refused to let anyone put clothes on him, so we didn't. an allegory for toddlers if ever there was one.

Baby DS is sick I had to take him to get tested for covid which was not fun. He was negative, as was I, which I totally expected but he has had a raging temp and lots of D&V for the past 48hrs. And constant requests for 'bee-boh' (booby ) have left me like a withered flesh sack, devoid of all life and hydration. We haven't even bloody been anywhere and DS1 isn't at preschool so I have no idea where he's got it from.

3yo DS is thrilled that he gets to watch tele all day but I am fearing the inevitable over stimulation related tantrum.

@monkeypuddle, what did you decide on? I don't think I was wanting a quickie after 12weeks.

Sorry you're all feeling rubbish @maize hopefully it'll be short lived.

Todays excitement so far has been the weekly shop being delivered. It's DS's and the dogs favourite thing. We've also got a boiler man in to fix ours that's playing up. Not sure what the plan is for later as its back to being wet after our one day of sun

Thought we could make some rainbow rice for a mess free activity.... It was not mess free

@MaizeBlouse that sounds tough. Really tough. It’s relentless sometimes isn’t it. Hope you all get through the day.

@Motherofmonsters I chose googling wildflowers and drawing up an embroidery design to try 😂 DP and me sleep in separate bedrooms which I love, he loves it less so. We’re incredibly unromantic so a shag is pretty much the only way we show each other affection, we don’t even sit on the same sofa of an evening. I had a look in the bedside drawer and there’s no condoms left and I am not getting pregnant so it couldn’t have happened anyway. The thought of being pregnant again fills me with utter dread.

@MaizeBlouse. I'm sorry to hear you're having a bad day. Best wishes to you all, especially little DS...I hope he feels better soon .

@MaizeBlouse sounds rough, hope it passes soon!!

We did some oat sensory play this morning all nicely enclosed in a paddling pool. She loved it and I didn't even have to participate. What a win! A small amount was flung outside the pool but easily hoovered up and the rest poured back into a bag for next time.

My bump is starting to inhibit movement somewhat so was very thankful for an activity where I could sit on the sofa 😂

New top tip: when you’ve spent ages getting a fussy baby to sleep in their cot, do not fumble the monitor and drop it on their face...

@MonkeyPuddle I bought condoms recently, DH was all “ooh, are they flavoured, ribbed...?” His bubble was burst somewhat when I showed him: “Extra Safe”. Not taking any chances!

@Motherofmonsters I can’t say I’d recommend rainbow rice as a mess free activity! Fun though.

@MaizeBlouse hope little one is better soon.

@monkeypuddle - we were going to have 3 children with small age gaps but it turns out real children are harder than the imaginary ones. Maybe one day in the (far) future.

@wesearchedhere - i thought how messy could putting some rice in a ziplock bag, squirting in some paint and smooching it about be? Very when DS grabs a paint brush and paints himself, the tray and the paint bottles.

Ah, I’ve never dared get DS involved in the actual colouring of the rice!

:o Aren't the extra safe ones meant to be for bum sex?

I know I'm behind the party but we did rice play for the first time ever. DS kept sniffing it and saying "I smell it in my nose, mmmm, smells yummy!" He didn't eat it though. I just used up all the crap rice we will never eat so there was the end of a pack of long grain, some Milchreis I bought in a fit of madness and some quinoa that I thought was like couscous only to discover it needs 15 minutes to cook Who has time for that? It looked pretty though!

Tuff Trays apparently are UK made and don't exist in Germany, I only found one site selling them and they are not delivering due to Brexit.

I dropped my phone on DS2's face while I was feeding him in the middle of the night in hospital he was only about 3 days old. Luckily nobody noticed!

@MaizeBlouse hope your day got better and hope baby gets well soon

@BerieBotts if you stuck some pomegranate seeds on that you could pass it off as one of those recipes you see on gourmet toddler food blogs

You should all try dying spaghetti. Now that's good fun, if you're a masochist. I did it for work once. Thought it'd be a doddle. Ended up at midnight that night, with a sort of food dye and multiple sandwich bag mini processing plant in my kitchen, with DH shaking variously coloured bags of spaghetti, going "wtf" 😂

I'm with you on the no more pregnancy bandwagon, @MonkeyPuddle and @WeSearchedHereWeSearchedThere. At one point, about a year ago, I was tempted, but no, we're done. I'm going to have a school aged child for something like 25 years by the time DD2 finishes A Levels, and I have to see Everest Base Camp while I'm young enough to walk up to it myself.

Just worked it out - 26 years from DD1 starting primary to DD2 finishing secondary!

@BertieBotts ah, is that why I got a knowing look at the checkout. I was pretty focused on just not getting pregnant!

I might have to raid our jars of unidentified grains for some messy play soon, but rather hoping to be able to do it outside so I don’t spend days treading on missed specs of quinoa on wooden floors.

@MildlySpicyCurry I haven’t dared work out how old I’ll be when mine finish school, still up for an adventure I hope! (I huffed and puffed my way up a few mountains in Nepal in my 20s, with spritely 50 year olds zooming past. Maybe I could be one of them!).

PS, 3am obviously the perfect time for DS2 to practice rolling, with lots of puffing and grunting.

DS has been awake since 3am and DD woke every 40mins and up at 5.30. This is a new kind of hell

This is tomorrows entertainment. I'm a bit weary of setting up for first thing in the morning as I usually chuck the TV on and try to zone out for a bit but DS doesn't nap and I wonder if it takes the excitement away by doing while he around

That set up looks great! I know what you mean about setting it up - I value that half hour of half dozing on the sofa while DS1 watches CBeebies at some ungodly hour, if I have a tuff tray ready to go then it can all be over by 8am... Is there anywhere you could put it (on a table?) and cover in a sheet or something?

@wesearched thank you! Not really anywhere I can put it at the moment. DS is very nosey so will spot it straight away. I'm hoping to get rid of our sofa in the conservatory so hopefully I can put it in there with the door shut in the future.

DS2 turned one today - Argos folding slide with tiny ball pit at the bottom was a success DS1 loved it too. Both DC fell asleep early all full of cake, biscuits, and assorted party foods - we had a tiny party with just my mum.

Worse bit of the day was trying to do homelearning with super excited DS1 though. He kept running off to play on the slide (who wouldn't)

Am now watching the Star Trek cartoon, eating birthday cake and working on a job application form (I like my job but it's not very well paid).

Motherofmonsters love your colourful tuff tray. Good luck doing it first thing in the morning, hopefully after the initial excitement you can supervise DS sitting down with coffee!

BertieBotts I'm the opposite, love quinoa but would use the couscous for messy play! (couscous is a rubbish non-pasta imo, whereas quinoas all lovely and crunchy).

Happy Birthday for your DC2 sounds like they had a lovely day!

It turns out DS also needs his TV in the morning, he didn't even notice it for half an hour. They had a good play on it for an hour and I've left it out in case they want to again later.

DS found some cars we froze months ago in the freezer so we've freed them with warm water, pipettes and a hammer.

Its been an activity filled morning and it's 10am.....

DD has also fallen asleep an hour and a half early and she won't sleep again. It's going to be a long afternoon, hopefully the rain will stay away for us to get some fresh air.

@Camomila. Yes, happy birthday to your DC2... sounds like a great day!

I remember my DS's first birthday. It was the first time he'd really had cake and I made a big strawberry cake with lots of cream on top. He thought it was all for him and buried his face in it after he'd blown out the candles. Cream everywhere .

Happy birthday baby @Camomila! I got DS a cake from M&S for his 1st, was almost the same size as him!

@Motherofmonsters loving the tray!

We’ve been to the duck pond, it’s been drizzling all day but it’s sheltered with trees so not too bad.
Searched for kids sing along disco on YouTube and we shut the curtains, turned out the lights and god the flashing disco light from the bath and had a dance party. Fuck me I didn’t think it would ever end. I am knackered, but DS loved it.
We’ve also played every orchard game that we own.

DD must be going through a growth spurt cos she’s been on my boobs more than she hasn’t today. Fun!!

I think I'm traumatised, I've managed to go the last months of potty training with DS not needing a wild wee when we're out but today was the day for the first ever stood up one, long story short DS peed in my face.....