To ask. What age is most difficult to look after during lockdown?

[louise5754]

Those with primary age children I think it's will be hard to remember back to having babies and we haven't had the teen years yet to compare.

But.....

I reckon the most difficult age to keep entertained would be the toddlers 1.5-3 ish?!

Anyone else?

TODDLERS WHO DO NOT NAP

I have a 3 year old and a newborn! I'm definitely struggling, especially as toddler is very jealous of the baby

DH is wfh which helps a bit but I'm alone during the day with the two kids 90% of the time

Teenagers are easy here (as long as the internet doesn't go down....). I'm struggling with the over 70s.

I'm at home with a very frustrated four year old DS and 6 month old DS.

The six month old is a doddle but together it's really hard work. The four year old is missing his friends and grandparents, the six month old finds DS1 hilarious so DS1's behaviour is getting more and more outrageous to entertain DS2.

Thankfully, although DH is officially WFH, he works in construction and with all the sites closed there isn't much he can do so he's on hand.

Twens and teens

I was thinking the other day that if this had happened when my dc were under seven it would have been so much easier.

Tweens and teens i meant

toddlers. I am in hell.

It depends on how many children, their personalities, whether any SN, how well they get on together, whether the parents are both having to work/ single parents with or without support, etc.

I think toddlers would be hardest if you were both trying to work full time but several children constantly fighting or moody teens ignoring the rules and meeting friends could be more emotionally exhausting and stressful.

I'd hate to have a toddler at the moment, I don't envy my friend with her 2 year old.

My youngest is 13 and she has set up a discord server with her friends from school and they are sticking to their school timetable as a group, including during the school holidays but she said they will only do the lessons they really like for the next two weeks.

They are also playing card games and on the playstation in the evenings and still using the discord group chat facility.
Her Explorers group are using Zoom to meet virtually and she often uses her lunch break to walk the dogs.

Oldest child is trying to still keep up with her uni course online but also works in a key worker job too so is doing more hours than she usually would.

I don’t think there is a definitive answer. I loved having toddlers when mine were little. I found teenagers to be very.....mixed shall we say. One was an absolute dream, two others were awful.

I think it will depend on the child and the parent.

Toddlers/pre-schoolers. I actually love the toddler stage, but it’s completely incompatible with working from home. They get frustrated and and are old enough to miss their usual trips to the playground. Primary age is much easier.

My 15yo is missing her friends, but they video chat and stay in contact in groups that way. She wasn't unhappy to have her GCSE's cancelled (those that she will sit in y10 anyway) as she's done very well in her mocks and teacher assessments. Not looking forward to what impact missing these months will do for next year though.

And 19yo misses her independence at uni, but was always a homebody and is happy to be back at home (being fed and having to pay for nothing) and has no stress as all assignments and exams are now optional and not going to be counted. They are all passed for next year.

They have the invincible thing going that some teens do, so don't seem to worry, but then it's not rife in our area - yet.

It would have been hell when they were toddlers and too young to understand why we couldn't go out to all the things that we used to do.

I think teens would be hardest. I have 4 DC ages between 1.5-9. We've been coping fine tbh. A teens world usually revolves round their friendship group and I think being cut off from that must be hard for them. I know they have SM and things to communicate but it's not really the same.

My 6year old has been brilliant.I dont know how I would cope with a toddler I remember that being the hardest age for me (so far)

I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old and am one of only 3 people from our large team not to be furloughed. DP is a keyworker so I’m trying to work alongside look after and entertain them alone whilst catching up with work once they are in bed. It’s quite tough but needs must.

17 month old here - we really miss the library, or at least I do! There are only so many times you can read The Enormous Turnip in one day. I need fresh books! She is also a climber and constantly wants to be standing on the back of the sofa. She likes standing at the sink playing with spoons in bowls of water so doing a lot of that at the moment. We only have a small yard at the back. I kind of go to bed dreading what the next day will bring sometimes. But she is starting to say lots of new words and she’s a very cheerful little girl most of the time so I’m just trying to enjoy what I can.

I have a three year old and a two year old and I wake up every morning with dread in my stomach and my two year old has decided this would be the perfect time to stop napping!

The three year old has never been an easy child but has kicked it up a good 10 notches this month. The tantrums and utter defiance are like nothing I've ever seen. She's an anxious child by nature so I'm trying to have some empathy but lord I'm drowning over here.

@AnPo there is a term called threenager for a reason,I feel your pain! Ds is a bit older now but I remember 3 very well.It will get better.

Thank you PrincessHoneysuckle for giving me some hope! She's morphed into a completely different child the last few months and I was starting to seriously worry for the future...😬

69 or 26.
Not sure which is worse.
I need sensible company. Someone send me two year old.

@AnPo mine thought he knew it all at 3 He still does lol but hes much calmer now

I’ve got a 3 and a 12m old. If I just had one of them individually it would be fine. It’s the combination of both of them together that is hard because:

1. the 3yo wants to do things like puzzles, crafting. The 12m old wants to join in but that means destroying everything the 3 year old is doing.

2. the 12m old is in the kamikaze phase of life. She enjoys nothing more than trying to chuck herself off sofas, eat random shit off the floor and find things to put round her neck. She needs constant supervision.

3. the 3yo is intense and unusually articulate. She is basically a delight but absolutely knackering at the best of times. She did a load of activities before lock-down as she has never been one for pottering. She desperately misses her friends, her classes and is currently a live-wire of emotion. Anecdotally, my friends with 3/4 year old boys seem far happier at home than the girls seem to be. No idea why.

Personally, I’d get on far better with lockdown with primary aged kids than the ages of mine but I am also glad that I’ll see my baby’s first steps and have longer with her before she has to go to nursery.

52 year old slightly doing my head in! Hes meant to be shielding which apparently means hes ok to go out and exercise in the garden everyday but washing up is not ok! 13 year old is coping by sleeping most of the time, 10 year old is spending far too much time on his xbox but I cant really blame him he is playing online with his friends who he is obviously missing.

I think it depends on the personality of the child . My son will be 2 next week and he is loving being at home and I'm able to manage working from home while looking after him. This isn't a humble brag, I'm not an amazing mother, it's sheer dumb luck.

He's incredibly laid back and very good to amuse himself . He'll happily scribble on paper on the desk beside me for up to an hour. He sleeps for 2 hours during the day and I'll get sn hour out of him plsying with his cars. These are all opportunities for me to get solid chunks of work done. Again, I'm lucky he's happy to go along with things, personality trumps age in my household anyway.