This is been one of the hardest things for me as a mom: what in the world am I supposed to do to keep him busy for six hours in a row? He's only one year-old so doing things like going to the zoo or the aquarium aren't yet exciting. He can't walk very well, but gets frustrated when he's in the stroller or car too long. I get bored when we're hanging out in the play room all morning. Am I supposed to be doing art projects? Play acting? Creative writing? I just have no idea. Please please please tell me what you do (or did) when you only had one baby. I am scared to death of this one nap thing, and I need you to tell me it will be okay. Even if it's not.
seriously, i have NO idea what i did with just miles. i can't imagine having just one kid around. :) but. . . i think what you do is a little of what you want and a little of what he'd want. work on your own projects if possible - while having something out for rhett to entertain himself with. then just play with him. in the playroom. on the grass. at a park. have him "help" you in the kitchen while you bake - help him dump in ingredients, etc.
ReplyDeletei won't lie to you - my mornings are very, very, very long. some mornings just very long. but they are fun, too. a different fun, though. not hiking in the mountains fun. but fun.
if i have any good ideas, i'll let you know.
look at him rockin' his adidas socks, what a cutie. this sounds exactly like what zig did while transitioning to one nap. i'll email more details but yes, the long mornings until afternoon nap can be hard. generally i try to clean a room, do the laundry, bake something or go out and get errands done like grocery shopping and then plan to be home for lunch and nap time. you could always have another baby and the whole time you would just wonder what in the crap you are going to do with TWO of them?!
ReplyDeleteIt's really okay. In fact, you'll soon grow to like one nap better. Go out and do all your errands in the morning, hang out at the park, go to the library, etc.-- Rhett will enjoy being out and seeing things that he normally doesn't see while he's at home. Get home by lunch, feed him and put him down for a nap. He'll take a great nap and you'll have a really nice chunk of time for yourself to do all your wonderfully crafty things that you do!
ReplyDeleteoh, one nap is awesome! It will grow on you, give it some time. As for 6 hours of entertaining...try some brainy baby videos (I don't mean to sit him in front of the tv for 6 hours, but try a 30 minute video). I love the brainy baby seies versus the baby mozart series.
ReplyDeleteYou can also try some fun art projects...like edible playdough (made from honey, peanut butter and oats) or painting with pudding on his high chair tray...work on basic shapes or use objects to make impressions in the pudding (expect some real clean up).
Go to the park...I love the little park by your house and it has some small play equipment.
I do remember one child being hard to entertain...I've defnitely done a lot less entertaining since having more kids and boys don't entertain themselves as well as girls do. Connor needed constant attention until he was 4 whereas my girls have been able to entertain themselves since about age 2.
Yes, one nap is the best! Here are some of the things we do in the mornings:
ReplyDeleteLaundry (tons of fun for him, he's the best helper)
Shopping (we both enjoy this)
Going on walks (Bailey comes too and we all have a great time)
Playgroup at Church
Playdates with friends
Picnics at the park by our house
Playing in the backyard
On rainy days like today, we play games inside the house. David's favorite game is hide and seek. If I need to do things in the kitchen, I give him a ton of tupperware and small objects to put inside. He loves this and can spend all morning doing this.
I also switch the toys he plays with about once a week. He gets so excited to get "new" toys every week and plays with them for a long time.