these activities apply more to roo's age group (4-7yo) more than red's (terrible twos). we're back to helper-less days, and it's maddening trying to squeeze time here and there to get work done with these two hounding me for activities or for attention. "look at this, mommy!" "mommy, red spilled her drink on the couch again!" or simply just random wails that break an unusual silence.
now that i'm running a small business from home, whenever i tell roo i'm working, she repeats "mommy's working" to red like it's a curse. i've told her that her daddy works more than i do, but because i'm the only one who she sees doing work at home, she has this impression that i work a lot more. (somedays, when i pull all-nighters, it does feel like that). so i've gotta have a handy pool of activities for them to do whenever i need to sort something out urgently.
a simple trick i use at least once a week, is to ask roo what animal or image she's interested in coloring. this week, it's a butterfly. i'll shortlist a few butterfly drawings for her to choose from, then print her favorite. prep time takes about 5-10 minutes, but it keeps her busy for about an hour or so, depending on the medium. as a bonus treat, sometimes, red also wants to get in on the action, and that delays roo from finishing by another 20 minutes. grin.
in a way, it's good there's two of them. once in a while, they can keep each other busy, at the expense of my office supplies. this is what they do to my packing paper before i use it for client deliveries. effectively 20 minutes of quiet time for the mommy. fun!
had these flowers lying around the house (i don't like flowers in bouquets), and figured we could make something to give meaning to their death. roo loved the idea. i initially thought i could "supervise" this craft, but she insisted i work alongside her.
the top one is mine...
and the bottom one is hers. notice the use of mixed media. :)
charlie and lola publishes magazines loaded with with crafty activities inside, and this little monster below is a product of one such craft. those have saved my sanity several times, keeping both roo and red busy with cutting, pasting, and sorting things. it's messy, but a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do.
when i'm (mostly) done with work, we do even messier things like punchhole art. (make sure you've got a strong vacuum cleaner. these little buggers get everywhere!) the kids find it fun, and i personally find punching holes therapeutic. win-win! :)
it's almost the weekend!
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