what do your kids do when you are cooking/cleaning?

[CandyCrate]

DS (23mnths) watches TV while I clean and cook, because otherwise he tends to do naaughty things while I am out of the room, or hang off my legs while I am trying to open the oven etc.

I am trying to find things other than tv watching for him to do though, as I tend to spend about 2 - 2.5 hours a day cleaning or cooking, and I think this is a bit too much tv for him. Also it means I feel guilty about letting him watch a bit when he is wound up or tired as I think he has had too much already.

What do your kids do when you need them to not be by you??

Mine roam around nearby (or get in my way). Or sit at the kitchen table colouring /sticking /cutting. But my older ones are a bit older than yours (4.5 and almost 3) which helps, and my 1-year-old can be strapped in her chair. Also, I think it's easier for 3 to entertain themselves/play together than for one (my eldest used to hate me occupying myself when he was an only).

I don't put the TV on as, like you, I think it would end up being too much time. I spend less time cooking/cleaning than you though (I have a weekly cleaner) so easier for me to occupy them. But I do find that they are fairly accepting of it, because it's a regular thing IYSWIM - after breakfast / before tea etc. they know I'm doing jobs.

One trick which my older two absolutely LOVE is letting them 'do' cleaning. I give them some dry dusters and send them off to polish all the furniture - they spend ages rubbing down all the chairs/tables etc. And I have a toy dustpan/brush set which they sweep up with. In fact, now one of them takes the toy set and one the real set and they do pretty capable sweeping up and emptying the pan in the bin, which is a bonus. They also lay the table before tea (when they're in the mood) which keeps them busy for a bit. Or sometimes I send them round the house searching for things (laundry/broken toys/cups in other rooms etc.) and bringing them to me - yours might be too young for that now. It gets easier as they get bigger I think.

Another trick is to give them 'cooking' to do - like dry pasta to pour into saucepans etc. It tends to make a bit of a mess, but one that's quick to clean up, and can keep them occupied quite a while.

If you're brave I give mine a white vinegar spray and a cloth.

Mine do a variety of things: playing, watching TV, helping, shouting, 'washing up', pestering. I often clean the rrest of the bathroom while they're in the bath.

Mine plays happily now as he's a bit older than yours but at that age it would be a mixture.

Getting something out he hadn't played with for a while, sitting him with a snack, safety gate at kitchen door and he would stand crying chattering to me.

Call me a slattern but I don't spend anything like 2.5 hours a day cleaning and cooking! Quick lunches and teas that can be slow cooked (stews, curries, casseroles) or a quick pan tea (stir fry, pasta, soup). Would do something more faffy like a roast on a weekend. Toys would be chucked back in a box as we moved onto the next thing, beds made as we got out of them, pots washed as he ate some fruit or yog for his pud, etc. Hoovering and such got done as it needed it as my DS was terrified of hoovers!

At that age when cooking probably TV or sitting on a bar stool next to me "helping". Cleaning they helped too, jusy give them a duster and they follow you round or when doing the bathroom pop them in the bath with a baby wipe while you do the rest then if you feel the need to bleach your bath (I just use vinegar and microfibre so can be done around child) you can always finish off once he is in bed.

Now the big ones are 5 and 3 so they are usually killing each other while the baby watches.

Our 22MO generally falls over or gets frustrated with something and cries/has tantrum, or just comes and hangs onto the back of my trousers shrieking whilst I'm chopping vegetables. I do most veg preperation and par-cooking of spuds etc whilst she is napping around lunchtime and we just have to put up with the house stinking of garlic and onions all afternoon till I put the food in the oven later... I cook at least 3 meals at the weekend whilst she naps to avoid some of this happening after work on week days, and also so I get to see something of her before bedtime. There is almost always a crisis the moment I go out of the room though, so even making a hot drink will inevitably take several hours with kettle boiling at regular intervals before I actually manage to pour hot water onto a tea bag... and then it'll go cold before I get to drink it anyway. Isn't this normal then?

what gourd said.

Cook batch cooking whilst they nap. Saves cooking half the week as just take something pre prepared out of the freezer am and voila a home cooked dinner by evening.

Play dough/ drawing at the table

Plays alone with toys from a distance ( ie i will help set up train set then they will be occupied by themselves with it while I'm busy)

mine potters around with me, sometimes watches tv, or i sit her in her highchair with toys and a snack (that doesnt last long tho!) they have all loved to be given a wet wipe so they can help 'clean' but generally i just try and do stuff as i go along and as i have older ones they can help out as well.

ditto cooking when they are napping, or doing bulk cooking.

and i have re-heated MANY cups of tea in the microwave!

I usually set mine up (24mo ds) with toys in the lounge and then he brings them in to play nearby while I cook, cos he prefers being in the same room as me. I like it and think it is really sweet, so he plays with his cars or whatever and I make occasional remarks between chopping/stirring and he seems happy with that. Looking at some of these makes me think I have got it easy! I get him involved in the cooking if I can, and as he is there in the room I can turn round easily and get him to peel the skin off the onion for me, or similar kid friendly job.

Until recently I thought I had it tough as my friends child the same age actually does the dust busting etc and mine doesn't. So I thought I was missing out on help, however he does occupy himself so can't complain.

Funny what you think when you have little to measure against, I'm clueless in many ways (first child)

Watch tv, play, whine for my FULL attantion, cry, fight with each other, eat crap, grab onto my legs.
Repeat until I give up.

Ds2 6 mow and it's a piece of cake. NO WAY does 2 yr old entertain my attempts at cleaning. Cooking, he understands, is a necessary evil.

Hehe, some good answers.

The cooking while he naps thing is out, as he hasn't had a daytime nap for about 8 months.

I hate defrosting food to reheat (don't know why, just bugs me like ironing does!) but I could do this more I guess. I have bought DS a play kitchen for his birthday, which is in two weeks, so I'm hoping he will 'cook' while I cook.

I do clean a lot, like the whole house, polishing/bleaching/hoovering/dishes definately once sometimes twice a day! People tell me all the time I'm a bit excessive, but the pregnant nesting ocd thing never wore off for me!

Ill consider buying him a little duster. He has a baby sweeping brush which he loves.

Fight.Usually.

If he doesn't nap does he still lie on sofa with some books/ music quietly for an hour? Or could you try and introduce this

hehe, he never lies still!

i might give it a go though, i dont know how i would try that. he sometimes plays with his toys without me there but it cant be relied on when i need to get something done!

You need to spend less time cleaning, that is OTT and yes a small broom/duster will be fun and useful. My DS is 10m and has to go in travel cot or walker unless in the same room as me. Takes longer to do jobs but he is getting better at entertaining himself for short periods. I batch cook once I have eaten with him and he finishes his lunch.

2.5 hours per day cleaning/cooking............shock

Can you have a safe drawer or cupboard for him to access in the kitchen? Fill it with all the plastic pots and plates etc, plastic spatulas, wooden spoons. Maybe a small saucepan or two. Mine would merrily play cook and bash pans etc for quite a while while I did some cooking. (I was never into batch cooking and freezing either.) Also some play food that you can chop in half - it velcros together, got the play veggies from the early learning centre - were his absolute faves and he used to chop and do this for ages with any pans I wasn't using. He doesn't need an actual toy kitchen to play at cooking.
If you don't have a safe cupboard for him to access just get this plastic stuff out for him when you start cooking, see how it goes.
Or any kind of sorting objects - various small objects and 2 or several boxes/bowls/whatever of various sizes. Used to keep mine entertained for a while, just moving everything around between boxes!
Or play doh.
Or stickers.
Or mega blocks, or wooden blocks.
Set it all up near you in the kitchen so you're in sight. He won't leave you to it for hours, but you will get moments when he's absorbed and you just work around the rest - let him stand on a chair and talk to him about what you're doing in the kitchen too. Mine is up on a chair 'helping' every evening and lunch. He loves it, and is to be encouraged I think!
Oh - and please stop cleaning so much!! No need to polish daily, really. Play with your ds more! :) Or let him dust with you - put on some music and dance/dust together. We do that, mine loves helping. He 'helped' with laundry sorting too, and you can wipe a bath while bathing him or sink as you clean your teeth etc. Hoover once/day (if you have to!) and let him run around and do it with you. It doesn't matter if he's there too, and it's better for him than watching loads of telly.
Get him to help you tidy up by singing this to the tune of Skip to my Lou:
"Mess in the living room (or whatever room), what'll I do? .... What'll I do my darling? You help me and I'll help you! ... We'll tidy up my darling..." Ok so it may not work with yours but it does with mine!
Good luck.

Thanks for replies, some good ideas there.

This morning I gave him a polishing cloth and he merrily wiped the window sill for ages while i polished the rest of the room.

I know I clean too much, its not something I can completely control!

I shall get to work on the plastics cupboard now! and having him stand on a chair and help sounds like a good idea too x

Sometimes you can just ignore them - well, keep saying 'in a minute darling, in a minute!' - while you do stuff for 15 mins, and just let him follow you. Often they'll end up finding something to look at or do for a few minutes by themselves, in whatever room you're in. He will slow you down / get in the way, but you basically have to think that now you have a dc, your cleaning and cooking routine will be different - ie you won't be doing it all in peace by yourself. (Unless he is off watching tv the whole time!) Try and involve him, try singing songs and rhymes as you do it together, try setting up some toys for him to play with while you do it within his sight. And accept that things'll take a bit longer than they used to.

Can you do a bit more in the evening after he's asleep, instead of in the day?
(And can you get help for controlling your super-cleaning impulses?)

Glad he enjoyed wiping - mine still does at 3.5 - and hope the plastics cupboard works! He will pull it all apart by the way, so don't worry about keeping things neatly stacked. Our plastics storage is a deep drawer, and stuff all just gets chucked in and rummaged around in and pulled out to play with. It works, you can still find things!

Part of me knows it is not normal to clean this much, but the other part wants my lovely house to remain spotless!

DS didn't watch much tv today at all. He enjoyed the plastics cupboard for ages, and I found a very annoying CD from Mothercare with songs on it which I had hidden ages ago. He loves it. So he danced away to that while I was cooking dinner.

Pans and wooden spoons to be a drum kit, or with dried pasta in to "cook" with.
If we are having mushrooms or similar very soft food, I supply a toddler knife and plate, and he will chop up the mushrooms next to me.

Will happily splash with some bits in the sink for 20 mins "washing up".

As already mentioned, wiping the windows, sweeping the floor, he will help me sort the washing, and identify whose clothes are whose, so generally helping me round the house. He adores hoovering, so I do a bit, let him do a bit while I clear more floor space etc..

I do much less cleaning than you per day tho!

My dd is younger, 14 months, but she likes to help. When I'm cleaning she wipes a wetwipe around, when I'm cooking she stirs the ingredients (whether they need it or not), when i hang out the washing she carries the peg basket. It's a pain because everything takes twice as long, but dd's not good at playing alone and o don't like the tv on too much.