What do you do to entertain your toddler while you are making dinner? I'm dead serious when I ask this. Frankly, Noah has been spending far too much of the hours from 5pm until 6:30pm in front of the television and I am appalled at myself. I was never the mom who swore her precious future Nobel prize winner would never watch television but I'm concerned it's getting out of hand. Add in the On Demand feature and we have the makings of a addiction brewing around these parts.
I've tried coloring, playdoh, trains, cars, puzzles, and even bought him a step stool high enough so he can reach the counter and play sous-chef. Except then he wants the knives and to fiddle with the stove. I hear that's frowned upon. What is your magic formula for making dinner while entertaining a 2 1/2 year old?
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So you know how I tore up the carpet on our stairs and then never updated about having them refinished? Yeah, that's because I haven't done a thing about it. They sit there in all their paint splattered glory just begging me to take a belt sander to them. However, this working thing is totally getting in the way of me getting ANYTHING done around the house (and here you thought if I had mastered laundry then I must have mastered the rest of LIFE). Alas, I have not and my stairs are neglected. And I didn't like the price I was quoted to have them refinished. That is, until I went to the carpet store today to investigate having them re-carpeted.
This time I was looking at pretty, patterned carpets...kind of like a runner. The lovely saleswoman must have thought I live in a golden palace with diamonds on my sink faucets and precious gems embedded in my floors because the carpets she was showing me? They were EXPENSIVE. Think around $2,500 for carpet, pad and install...for the STAIRS. Umm. No. Sorry. The stair refinishing is looking mighty nice right about now.
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Noah doesn't need a brace! Or special shoes! HOORAY! The docs think he just has a gross motor developmental delay that may resolve itself by his 3rd birthday. MUCH better than I thought. However, they suggested I look into physical therapy for him if I want to be "proactive". Have they met me? Obviously that suggestion meant I called the state early intervention office immediately and we have our first evaluation next week.
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Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I CANNOT WAIT. Turkey and a subsequent nap on the couch? YES, PLEASE. Enjoy your holiday, friends.
4 comments:
I sit Claire on the counter and let her "help" me. I do a lot of narrating and I let her pour water, choose green onions from the bag, open boxes, etc. Most of the time she's pretty well fascinated just by watching.
I have solved your problem. I just don't make dinner! Woot!
Madeline really, REALLY likes to help in the kitchen, which can become a problem in itself because I sometimes end up extending prep because I'm essentially inventing things for her to do. So, yeah. Other than that it's a lot of Sesame Street (which makes me feel a *little* bit better than the Yo Gabba Gabba bender we were on previously).
Bummer that the stairs are turning into a bigger project than you'd thought - I hate it when that happens. I'm hoping to get lots done this weekend while I'm home, but I know what you mean about no time. Between both of us working full-time and both being in school full-time, I'm generally just impressed when we eat dinner.
Hope your Thanksgiving was fantastic!
Give him a knife he can use without you worrying he's going to take off a finger -- plastic knives, a butter knife, etc -- and really let him help. The Boy likes chopping things like this (he'll be 3 in January), though he says onions hurt. : )
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