What do you do with dc during the day?

[DesperateHousewife21]

Ds wakes at half 6ish every morning, dh leaves for work at 8. I then have 10 hours to fill til dinnertime and dh is home again.

Some days I'm v busy, usually when I have set plans i.e going to see a friend who lives a fair drive away so that takes up most/ all of the day.

However days like today I've got no plans at all, we've been inside all morning so far. I'm going to take him to the animal park this afternoon after nap/ lunch but that won't be til about 2ish.

I find he watches way too much tv when we stay indoors alot. I'm 6 months preg as well so long walks aren't really an option anymore. Also he's 2.1 and I can never tell if he really needs a nap so I often stay in just in case he does need one.

What I'm trying to ask in a long winded way is what do you do with your dc(s) to fill everyday?

The scooter is really brilliant. DS absolutely loves his. He has a mini micro. They are a bit pricey (we fortunately managed to get ours 2nd hand in good condition) but definitely think worth it, after reading loads of reviews and speaking to other mums.

There are some great ideas on here already, and I think you're letting your mood cloud your openness to them. Totally understandable when you feel a bit stuck in a rut.

I would suggest cutting back tv time and replacing with making shapes out of salt dough, baking them, cool, painting them, decorating the house with the new ornaments.

Maybe watch a small bit of olympics, then recreate it in your living room. Hurdles out of broom lain across the floor, long jump could work well on the beach, as can any running. does he have a tricycle? he could ride that around, then run, then run through the water as his triathlon! You just need to get creative with the routine he seems to be settled into.

What about picking leaves for rubbing?

or getting some wool out on the lawn (who cares if it is communal?!?!?) and making his own spiders web, then hunting for spiders in the garden to tell them about the new web!

Having lunch out on a rug, makes it more exciting than indoors too. He can take some toys out to picnic with them.

Does he like making pictures with dried pasta? can be painted and stuck on in funny shapes.

As much as your ideas are all v good I am 6 months preg do can't be recreating the Olympics v well!
I've tried crafty things with him before and he lost interest in less than a min.

It's not so much ideas I need just more how to string them out. For example someone says 'take him to the park' so I do but then he doesn't want to go on anything.
Took him to the beach this afternoon and he threw a few stones then wanted to leave.

Im supposed to be having a whole day at the beach tomorrow with friends and their kids I just hope they keep each other more amused than I seem to be able to!

This is how we fill a visit to the beach:

Go paddling
Build sandcastles
Find a stick and draw pictures in the sand.
Find pebbles and throw them into rockpools/the sea (this can take ages!)
Use his little fishing net to 'go fishing' for seaweed etc
Dig holes and find random stuff to put in them.
Sit and have a snack
Pretend to be seagulls.
Play football.

Easily a whole morning filled!

We used to have a rule that the tv didn't go on until after his nap. Now we only watch Come Outside and

In The Night Garden.

This means that we have to do something else.

You don't seem like you were really looking for suggestions, more of a moan. You're only 6 months pregnant, things will be much more difficult once you've had a baby and are struggling to recover physically or get any sleep.

I know it can be tedious with a toddler, and tempting to use the TV, but there are so many good suggestions on here. You just need to decide you can do things and do them.

I think JHS has got it. It seems like you have just decided you "can't" do it.

I know how hard it is with a toddler and I'm pg too (although it's early days so I'm only on the nausea/bone-crushing tiredness stage) so I do sympathise. However, at the moment I'm making more of an effort as I keep thinking at least then we'll have had more quality time together as I'm sure when the new DC arrives the TV will be going on a lot more often! I hope you manage to find something you feel comfortable doing.

WRT filling a trip - how about a simple treasure hunt e.g if you go to the park, draw some things you know you'll see e.g. A tree, swing, duck and get DC to tick them off. I'm doing this at the beach with my DD tomorrow. Then an ice cream, a paddle, play in the sand and it's time for a picnic then home!

My DS's (6yrs and 2yrs) are both very busy boys, and both have the attention span of a gnat!lol! so when its rainy, or i have a lot of housework etc to do, meaning im gonna be stuck inside for a good part of the day, I need to make sure that they are kept busy (they can destroy a room in under 2 minutes!lol!), so we do things like:

play with bubbles out the garden (to avoid slippery floors!). fairy liquid and water mix will do, save having to go out and buy some, and you could twist or tie the ends of pipe-cleaners or plastic straws etc to make blowers.

play-dough (a life saver!) again could make your own, recipes for it online are pretty simple :)

painting, drawing, sticking etc

they help me to cook and bake

fill up a tub/bowl with water, grab some waterproof toys, spoons jugs, old bottles etc and either pop it out the garden or onto a good layer of towels, and have some water play

make a tent with an old sheet :) my boys LOVE this!peg it to some chairs or other items of furniture (just make sure nothings going to topple over on him if DS pulls on it) and play camping. my two usually have theirs up most of the day and insist on eating their lunch in there etc.

If you have an old cardboard box around thats big enough for him to sit in, decorate it with him as a bus, digger, rocket, submarine etc etc and let him play in that

my two have excellent imaginations,so if im not busy myself, i play imaginary games with them, like Tree Fu Tom, pirates, doctors or police men etc where we all act as a character or i put a throw blanket on the floor,put cushions on top of it for our seats and then we use a plastic plate as a steering wheel, potato masher as a gear stick and we "drive/fly" around (depends on whether its a car,rocket,plane etc this time) and go on safari, into space, under the sea etc etc and point out all the things we "see". We even get chased away by a rogue elephant, swallowed by a whale or have to battle enemy aliens on some trips, you never know whats going to happen! ;) lol!

hope a couple of these will help :)

"or getting some wool out on the lawn (who cares if it is communal?!?!?) and making his own spiders web, then hunting for spiders in the garden to tell them about the new web!"

coraltoes, i love this, fantastic idea! know what we'll be doing tomorrow!

It sounds as though DS is not showing much enthusiasm during the things that you are doing together (he got quickly bored at the park etc).

I wonder if you might need to conjure up some over-the-top enthusiasm yourself, to get him going in the right direction?

Think that is more the issue. I need more enthusiasm, well I do sit and play with him and teach him colours etc and try to expand his own imagination.

I'll put these ideas into practice and see how we get on, then my next goal is to get dh doing the same! (he's a bad one for using the tv as a babysitter)

It is really tricky to muster up enthusiasm when you're actually not 'feeling it'. But in my (limited) experience it does work, and before you know it DC are marvelling at blissfully simple things like feathers and stones .

you could take a small bucket to wherever you are going and collect things that you can then paint or display at home, make a collage, or make up a story to tell daddy about his day, that kind of thing - like pine cones, stones, grass, feathers, a flower from the park; shells, pebbles, sand from the beach; this could make the park a bit of a hunt for pine cones and nuts or whatever and then at home its 'lets glue the things we found at the park onto cardboard' or 'lets paint the park treasures', 'lets draw our day' or something! could help string it out. You need not to be negative or just dragging your feet around an outing, as kids do pikc up on everything, his lack of interest is coming from yours most likely, as others have suggested.... sorry! I know you must be knackered but you can't expect him to dredge up all the enthusiasm for the pair of you, he's just too young for that. best of luck :)

Yes I know my lack of enthusiasm is probably rubbing off on him.

He had a good time earlier building towers with daddy, not even prompted by me!

I've seen suggestions before that you pretend (to yourself, not DC), that you are bring filmed and this might help you to channel your inner TV presenter type enthusiasm!!

Something that keeps DS (2.3) occupied for ages while I'm making dinner is sorting pasta!
I mix two bags of pasta into one bowl (two types - e.g. bows and macaroni) then I ask him if he wants to help me cook and he normally says yes, so I let him stand on a stool at the counter and give him another two bowls, and he stands there merrily separating them out for ages.
I'm not sure what this says about the type of adult he'll turn out to be (a very organised one, I hope) but it keeps him out of trouble for ages.

Right, I wasn't suggesting you do the bloody hurdles literally, more a toddler version. 6months pregnant doesn't mean you cannot lay out some equipment and help your son across the obstacles.

Male oobleck (google it) for a lot of grungy fun, or playdough, or just sit there and keep saying you can't do it....

Dreamy0901 did the web go down well? I'm arachnophobic but honest to god, if it keeps dd entertained I will do anything.

I tend to spilt the day in my head into 2 halves - morning and afternoon (after DDs post lunch nap) and usually we stick to doing something either in the morning, or afternoon (or sometimes both). I like having a morning or afternoon free to potter at home as it means I get some cleaning/cooking done and I don't want to constantly bombard DD with being busy non stop or my logic is when she's older she'll expect to be entertained by going out alot.

We do gymboree twice a week
Go to the park/nature trail
Go swimming
Go to the playgrounds
Go to national trust places (esp those with child friendly things) as we have membership/tourist attractions we have annual membership for
Visit friends
Baking
Playdough
Happyland
Reading
Our library do a singing group free of charge with nursery rhymes etc
Check out your local sure start centre - most run activities like messy play for Little ones
She loves her toy buggy and pushing her toys around the house
We do teddy bears picnic with toy food/tea set
Garden toys are ace as is just playing with water or sand

I've just come across a new page on facebook which is designed for mums to meet other mums, make new friends and arrange playdates. You just enter in a few details (name, town, age and sex of children, three interests etc) and they will match you up with other mums in the local area and arrange a playdate for you at a local playcentre - its BRILLIANT! A good way to get the kiddies out and about too.. The page is www.facebook.com/findmeaplaydate :) Check it out!

Me and my friends have just discovered www.gettingstuckin.co.uk - loads of ideas for things to do with toddlers (and older children) on there, and all cost very little. Total life saver during the holidays or on rainy days when you can't get out and about, as all are activities to do at home. All ideas tried and tested by mum of 3 so all very practical and easy. Hope this helps !

It's all a bit harder when you're pregnant isn't it - the boredom is more boring & the guilt feels more guilty. I'm only a few weeks away from the birth of ds2 & am frustrated as hell that I can't walk more than about 3 hundred yards without feeling awful when we used to walk for miles to the park and the beach and to Grannies etc
My saving grace has been my Mummy friends - meeting up with other people at the park/beach/softplay/someone's house means automatic entertainment for ds plus adult conversation for me. The frustration/guilt of having drive there rather than get some nice fresh air is out weighed by the fact that ds gets to play with friends/different toys/change of environment and that I get a bit of a chat (& cake).
If you don't mind me saying your main point throughout seems to be that you are reeeeally bored - just remember that there is nothing wrong with looking after yourself a bit too, maybe you need a little time out? Have you thought of nursery for a morning or two, grandparents giving you a bit of a break to do something for yourself etc?

Write yourself a list of ideas and pin it to the fridge. I'd be tempted to start a daily routine that will suit you after the baby is born - out in the morning for an 'adventure' outside with lunch/picnic out if you feel like it, back home by early afternoon for a nap (for both of you ideally) then an activity planned for later - maybe painting/playdough/trip to the park/visit a friend. I've always found my energy levels better in the morning when pregnant/sleep deprived with small baby.

I always think of my son as being very like a Labrador puppy - he needs a run out in the fresh air every day to keep his energy levels under control! Being able to pootle about at home without being entertained is a very valuable skill for a two year old to have! Cut yourself some slack and relax about the tv.

The morning activity will tire your dc out and mean he's happier and less demanding just pottering for the remainder of the day. Definitely get his sleep time fixed as a routine ASAP, will make things much easier after the baby is born.