A girlfriend asked the other day, "What do you do between 3:30 and 8:30?" Meaning, how do you organize the time between nap time and bed time for your kids?
Admittedly, I am a lucky woman. S comes home from work by about 4:30 almost every day. So on most afternoons, I am not outnumbered by children. I know that makes things much easier. To my ladies (or gents...although, I do not know if one man actually reads this) who are home until late, late and later with the kids. Give yourselves a boatload of credit. The afternoon playtime, dinnertime, bath time, story time, bedtime routine is so much harder when you do it alone.
In my group of friends, we notice that we eagerly and creatively plan out the mornings: walk on the strand, playing at the
park, story time at the library, get-together at someone's house, zoo trip, museum trip, etc. But I find, by the time the kids' naps end, I am totally out of ideas. Or, truthfully, I am tired of thinking of ideas.
We tend to do a half-hour video after nap, snack, some sort of simple art activity, then head outside. We have been spending a lot of time in the backyard these days, which makes it easy. Riding bikes, playing in water, or blowing bubbles. Otherwise, we might head to a nearby park for an hour or so, just to get out. Then, dinner, bath, stories, and bed.
What about you? Any ideas on how to make the afternoon and early evening work for both kids and mamas (or papas)?
(photo of L and C, my two kiddies, who ask almost every afternoon, "But Mama, what are we going to DO?)
ah, yes, i'm currently experiencing my first bout with the afternoon lull. babies too little to ride bikes and play in kiddie pool . . . and there are only so many tummy time games or books i can read them before they and i start to go a little insane . . . and getting them both out the door one more time for the day sounds exhausting. i'm figuring it out one day at at time . . .
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