To think a three year old can’t do this?

[shakemyheadatyou]

Ds finishes preschool at 3. I don’t get home until 4.

DH thinks ds can just watch tv and entertain himself (dh wfh Fridays) I think he’s too young, what do others think?

Honestly my 3 and a half year old would be fine, a snack and the tv and she would be able to entertain herself (with a parent in the room working) But it completely depends on the child. Obviously wfh while looking after children isn’t ok but for the sake of one hour I suppose it’s worth giving it a go and seeing how it goes.

My 3 year old gets home at 2, watches half an hour to an hour of tv (ideally low stimulating) while she recovers from nursery and then we go for a walk or do activities etc. Where she’s tired she’ll happily just chill for an hour with a snack or play with her dolls - on the weekend a whole other story she probably wouldn’t, but the mental and physical tiredness means she’ll sit quietly for a good hour!

Mine would've been fine. I used to put Lion King or Toy Story on, give them a snack and they would watch the whole film at 3.

Depends on the child. DS1 - yes absolutely, he’d love getting the tv to himself if he had a snack and a drink. DS2 - he’d be sitting on top of the cat tree trying to leap to the chandelier - so not so much.

Hugely depends on the child, our son could happily play nicely and quietly for well over an hour at that age, to the point that on more than one occasion I thought I had forgotten to pick him up from nursery as he was in a corner behind the sofa quietly playing. Our daughter, no, completely feral.

I agree that it depends on the child, and you know him best. I have 4 children and could've done this with one of them, the other three would've constantly demanded attention at that age, especially if there was any hint that it was inconvenient/being ignored.

This would work with my current 3 year old actually, she is exhausted after pre school and would happily sit in front of the tv for a quiet hour, but my oldest would absolutely never have sat still for an hour at the same age- he would totally wreak havoc

Depends on the 3yo.

Dd1 would have been happy at the table colouring at that age for an hour. Give her a packet of raisins as well and she'd have been in heaven.
DD2 would have needed full on attention and if you'd turned your back for 5 seconds she'd have found her way into a full paint pot/sharp kitchen knives/the totally childproof lock on the cupboard/something else <take your pick>
Ds would not have wanted TV, but if you'd found him one of his favourite videos, either the one about Concorde Crash or the Bismark History Channel one, he'd have been silent and still for an hour. Yes, he had unusual tastes. He was explained one of them to me the other day - he's 17 now and still has similar tastes.

He did once want me desperately to come and take notes for a "craft activity" video he'd seen advertised. I came to find him about to start "how to make a nuclear submarine". He assured me that it was a small one, only 10m and he was sure the neighbours wouldn't mind.

If your dh is in the same room as him, yes you ds could probably have a snack and watch TV for an hour.

My 3yo wouldn't have the attention span to sit and watch tv for that long so no. He'd then cause chaos instead.

My 3 year old could 100% sit with a snack and some toys or a bit of tv for an hour with DH working at the table, particularly after a busy day at nursery!

Neither of mine has ever been tired out by nursery or Reception in the way people on MN describe but equally (and I'm not trying to sound smug, I just don't know how else to say it) we've always had high expectations and don't let them run around/climb/jump inside in the same way many of our friends let their children. We expect them to entertain themselves quietly at times. Some of this has been made easier by their personalities but we've also put a lot of work into it.

DS could do this for 30-40mins from 2. TV on. We turned the wine fridge into his snack / milk fridge & he was fully potty trained so accidents weren’t an issue. But if your DH is wfh then why can’t he just work from downstairs for an hour or take his lunchbreak then?

For 1 hour? Once per week? Yes possibly mine would be able to do this. Try it.

@shakemyheadatyou

How many times have you tried this?

what are your other options?

what's the house like when DH WFH without DS there?

im not convince the hour with DS amusing himself is the main issue here!

If he’s exhausted from a week at preschool and your husband can fix him a snack and sit next to him on the sofa with his laptop think it’ll mostly be fine?? Who doesn’t need a chill on a Friday afternoon!

My second born (who is 3 now). Yes absolutely.

My first born. Not a hope in hell.

DS1 would have easily done this age 2.5 if I am honest. He probably would have put the toys away and gotten himself a drink. He might have even emptied the dishwasher.

DS2 though... No chance. Not even age 5.

If DH can be in the same room as the 3yo then yes definitely. A bit of snack time, bit of telly and a bit of toys.

I’m so relieved you said this, I was starting to stress ds was really behind! He isn’t into Disney films or anything like that yet.

I think it’s just the general stress for me, as I have to

do his breakfast
make his lunch
pack bags with waterproofs etc

then come home and do dinner, the house is a tip, ds is in a daft mood as he’s been ignored and have I mentioned the house is a tip?!

Yep, I have one of those.

He often will entertain himself, sometimes better than my friends kids but he doesn’t seem awfully good at playing - he just empties toys everywhere and I’ve tried a few ways of addressing it and never got very far. I’ve had to accept it’s ’him.’ But it does make a messy house if he’s left to his own devices entirely. He’s not too bad of someone’s around, that’s what I’ve found anyway. I don’t mean he’s running round screaming, he doesn’t do that, not often anyway!

Loads of three year old would do this. Obviously your husband should be near by and able to attend to him if needed though.

But you know your child best and wether he'd be engrossed enough to be chilled out or wether he'd be causing mayhem.

DD1 would happily sit and watch a whole movie with a bit of colouring to do at 3. No chance for DD2.