When boredom kicks in- at home with toddler, what do you do? (what can you do!)

[summer73]

I work 3 days a week, the other 2 days I'm at home alone with my 3 year old. I try to plan the day so we do lots of things/get out and about. Yesterday we met my brother in town for a coffee, went to the library, went to the park, watched a bit of CBeebies, did some painting. Normally by about 4 I'm exhausted and bored. Dont have the energy to do anything but of course my daughter is still raring to go. Apart from stick on a dvd and hope dd will immerse herself in it so I can have a break, what else can I do? For me the boredom kicks in at 4 until 7 when my dh comes home and he can take over! Just interested really in what other people get up to. I have a friend who spends all day at home with her son, they rarely venture out and dont do painting or anything but she never seems to be climbing the walls like I do!

[gingerninja]

I was going to suggest a bucket of water. My DD will spend ages washing dolly and other toys, plates etc.

Can she ride a bike with stabilisers? or a tag-a-long/ trailer on your bike?

My DD has started to play 'shops'. I get a load of stuff out of the cupboards and she has a purse with money and a bag. I tell her what I want and she toddles off to get it. Then she pays me! (bit arse about face but it pleases her)

Hanging washing on a clothes airer thing is another good activity, cleaning windows, floors, kitchen cupboards, sweeping.

[swallowthree]

I tried to be entertainment officer for my first child and took a long time to get her to learn to play on her own (she can now, age 7).Too knackered to play entertainment officer to my son he can potter much more on his own. Messy play is best for getting either of them out of my hair - sand, water, mud, anything outside. Magnetix a brilliant toy (when older). His dinosaur obsession helps. I also think its good to let them be bored and not switch on the DVD/TV as an instant remedy. I also find that if I start some housework and ask for help is a sure fire way of getting them to entertain themselves.

[CrushedRaspberryDungarees]

My dd1 was always looking for entertainment and still does, whereas dd2 spends ages just trundling around the house with a doll in a buggy.

But, I would try to get your dd used to playing on her own a bit. At 3 she could spend a bit of time in her room playing. We used to almost schedule it with dd1!

I go out somewhere every day, but it could be just shops or park or cafe. Other days we do bigger stuff like toddler groups, meeting friends or swimming. But I find one thing out per day to be enough. You can make all kinds of boring stuff interesting for toddlers.

I try to save the DVD for when I'm cooking, between 4 and 5pm. Don't feel bad - kids need this down time too.

I hardly ever do things like painting - they can do that when they go to playgroup as far as I'm concerned.

[swallowthree]

You don't have to be chief entertainment officer all the day - let him be bored and without the TV/DVD - boredom is the spark for creativity. He'll find something to do. If you are doing something he really isn't interested in - he'll eventually go off and entertain himself with something for a while.

[Lovage]

I spend considerable chunks of my 2 days with DS (2) doing housework with him 'helping'. He's happy because he gets my attention as we talk about what we're doing, and I'm happy cos stuff gets done (although sometimes frustratingly slowly). Things that work particularly well for us are: putting washing in machine and hanging out to dry, chopping vegetables(he has a child-safe knife that he can use, but mostly he just plays with the veg and eats bits - result!), washing floor (strip him off first as his main aim is to get as much water on the floor as possible), weeding the garden (spare handfork is toddler-sized and when he gets bored there's all the interesting garden things to do), dusting, and sweeping the floor. You do have to be ready to stop at any moment cos he's got bored and starts being a complete pain (throwing veg on floor, pulling wet laundry off racks etc).

And yes, toddler group one morning and probably round to a friend another time. But quite a lot of the time I sit on the sofa and read (preg w no.2) and he plays on his own.

[Acinonyx]

That's the time of day I find difficult too. I tend to go out, usually with or to friends, and come back about 5.30-6.15 just in time for dd's dinner. I find it's more imporatant to have company (for both of us) in the late afternoon than in the morning.

[cornsilk]

I used to mix cornflour and water with different colours of food colouring on a tray and let DS1 run his cars through it. ds2 used to love to get a bag of flour and a spoon and cover his trains with it.Then he's run his trains through it and make tracks. He'd sit there for hours! I had a bag of flour just for that! Played havoc with his asthma though.

[bobsi]

My dd 2.10 can happily while away half an hour to an hour stood on a chair at the kitchen sink with a bowl of water, a few cups/cloth/brush and the tap on a slow trickle. She loves it and I just potter about around her. The small amount of mopping up afterwards is worth it for the peace I get

[elmoandella]

why can't you just play with dc???

join in play with their toys.?

why do you have to "do" things.

(not read whole thing incase this been covered already)