Having a toddler in lockdown is god fucking awful

[ivftake1]

I've finally cracked.

I'm so so so bored.

It's fine and it will continue to be fine but it's so shit.

Amazing the games you can come up outside with a toddler. I’ll miss soft play being open but getting out helps a lot

My dc was around your toddlers age when dc2 was born and it was so exhausting. It is a tough age and I completely sympathise. Lock down is a slog with young dc, my only saving grace is my older dc is at pre school so this lock down is a little more tolerable than the last one! There is also afew more places open than there was last time and as a dc said you can meet outside.

a pp not a dc!

One fun thing to do is buy a bag of cheap readymade white fondant icing from asda or somewhere and roll it out, let your dc cut out shapes and use different stampers etc. It kept mine entertained for ages. Also unlike playdough it doesnt matter if they eat a tiny piece!

@Kokeshi123

Oh yes, and let's all take a moment to think about the joys of managing potty training or nappies combined with winter clothes and puddle suits and lack of public toilets available and driving rain cold and all clothing getting soaked anyway.

So Much Fun.

Thank fuck we sorted that in the early summer

@StickTheKettleOnAlice That's a good idea. I also buy squeezy tubes of icing for decorating shop-bought biscuits - mine love that.

I can't imagine how hard this is for people with no garden and no childcare bubble though.

Exactly @Laquila mine love all that too and it saves any hassle and so easy to prep for them. Asda also do coloured fondant so might give dc1 a little task this year of making a santa claus or snowman with little decorations etc...needs must! If all else fails he will stamp some shapes!

@BusyDayForBirds
No, nothing. I used to be at all the playgroups, library groups, playdates etc. Now there's nothing!
Genuinely, Thank you for the suggestion though.

I had to convince myself in the middle of a night feed, that it would not be a good idea to buy my 2 year old a running machine. But she loves running EVERYWHERE? No corona it will probably be more like child abuse than fun. But she will enjoy it and you dont have to stand in the rain with a newborn looking like a prick? No CoronaBollox someone will call social on ya.

I feel your pain OP.

@LittleMissLockdown I'm currently 30 weeks with DC2. We were going to wait, but given Covid is going nowhere any time soon and due to our ages (me 35 and DH nearly 40), we decided to stop using protection and see what happened. If Covid had an end point we'd probably have waited, but hey ho. Luckily DD will still be attending nursery when her sister is born, so that'll help. I'm trying not to think about it too much! Eek!

@StickTheKettleOnAlice

One fun thing to do is buy a bag of cheap readymade white fondant icing from asda or somewhere and roll it out, let your dc cut out shapes and use different stampers etc. It kept mine entertained for ages. Also unlike playdough it doesnt matter if they eat a tiny piece!

This is brilliant thanks for the tip

You are welcome

Remember that pre school children do not count as numbers when meeting your one person outside, despite the smug thread about children being people and must be counted, they are in fact not, for this purpose so you can meet with one friend at a time for some adult company.

Ahhh this is the thread for me. The puddlesuit one was clearly answered by people who only remember the good bits of having toddlers. I love being outside, love walks, love parks, but fuck me that is ALL we've done since March and I am tired of them. And my son is in nursery 4 days a week as I work, so I only have one day on my own with him... I have no idea how those who do it every day cope!

I would love to go to a friend's house for a cuppa and let him loose on their toys for a couple of hours. Or to take him out for the day without worrying about where we'll go to the toilet (thank goodness he's still in nappies). Or have my parents look after him for a while! My MIL was meant to be doing a day of childcare for us, but as she's quite at risk we can't do that. He's only 20 months so not in the slightest bit interested in 'activities' yet. He'll happily potter round the garden for a while but that's pretty boring for me, I end up on my phone feeling guilty for not engaging with him.

None of my NCT group is pregnant again yet, which I think is pretty unusual with our children coming up to two.

I have a 2yr old and 1yr old. Last lockdown was painful.

This one, not too bad given playgrounds can stay open and we can meet one other person not from our household for walk and a chat with toddlers in tow!

I've just ordered a puddlesuit

Ds is the same age as yours op..
Puddlesuits are great and I love them... But they don't fill the whole day.. Picnic or no picnic especially in the pouring rain and cold wind.
I miss soft play so much!! 🙈 also miss my mum's house for a cup of tea and "new" toys to play with.
It's 9am... We have already watched TV ate breakfast played with cars coloured in dinosaur pictures and "washed" some dishes in the sink (followed by a change of clothes when he declared "my knees are wet") oh and mopped the floor. We are back to fire engines and paw patrol cars now. His warm puddlesuit is still wet from the 4 hours outside yesterday as are his shoes and his wellies so they are drying near a radiator.
Don't get me wrong we have great fun and he loves it but seriously missing the adult company of doing it with someone else from outside our household!
We have discovered dump trucks and diggers on amazon prime (most boring show ever but ds loves it and is all about colours and numbers) and pinkfong Dinosaurs songs... For when you need 10 mins to drink a cup of tea that you have reheated for the 10th time and actually want to drink while hot 🙈😂

@olivesonapizza I have two in that age bracket 🤦‍♀️ the big one is nearly three and at least she does a couple of days of nursery. The little one is 14 months and has MEGA separation anxiety and is just starting walking and growing all her teeth THIS week so is up all night every night - this is very hard on my husband apparently. I'm a SAHM.
YES YES YES to five minute mum. My sister is an early years teacher and I literally text her all the time saying what do I do now and she tells me a fun activity for them lol. My house is trashed and getting worse. I am SO tired and getting worse and I am clinging to my sanity by a thread but my kids are happy and my husband had a lie in 😂