This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of KidLid!
Moms of two or more know how rarely we get a moment of peace in a day. My kiddos have been awesome at tag teaming wakefulness. It’s like they wait to sleep until they know the other is awake and demanding my attention…
This was literally my day yesterday:
7am-8:30am –Baby awake (toddler still asleep)
8:45am –Toddler awake (Baby is back asleep)
9:30am –Both awake (Should I attempt to go grocery shopping? I decide that’s too ambitious)
11am–Baby asleep
1pm–Baby awake and Toddler asleep
3pm–Toddler awake and Baby asleep
4pm–Both awake until bedtime (Wait, where did this day go??)
What kind of life is this?! It is just about impossible to leave the house without infringing on somebody’s nap time (and making them crabby for the rest of the day.) And accomplishing ANYTHING is difficult because they so rarely nap simultaneously. When am I supposed to cook or clean or fold the three baskets of laundry we’ve been tripping over for two days? Who knows! But somehow, we moms figure out our groove even with a schedule run by the tiny two-headed-dictator-tag-team of a baby and toddler.
One thing I can tell you for absolute sure is that if you can find something that both of your kids enjoy doing and can do safely together, ENCOURAGE THEM TO DO IT DAILY. For my 8-month old and my almost 3-year-old, that comes in a few forms:
Forts–Something about draping a blanket over a couple of chairs and throwing some toys under there just thrills the two of them.
The trampoline (with enclosure)–It’s like a giant crawl pad for the baby and of course the toddler burns some energy while on it as well. Bonus because we’re all outside while we do it!
Reading— My baby gets a board book to suck on while I read whatever the toddler picked out. My favorite is when our toddler “reads” to the babY.
Bike rides— Oh do they ever love sitting by each other in our double-seater bike trailer (affiliate link) while Mommy gets some much needed exercise and we all get fresh air.
“Gentle wrestling”— It’s taken all of our baby’s 8 months of life, but we’ve finally got our toddler to gently wrestle with his brother, or as he calls it “pretend wrestling.” It’s mostly the baby laughing and reaching at the toddler, while the toddler dramatically throws himself backwards.
Bath time — Oh yes, as soon as baby learns to sit up, this became a favorite activity for both of them. The toddler, who used to fight bath time, now LOVES the company. And the baby simply loves being in the water methinks.
Swinging — Always a favorite, but curse the parks that separate the baby swing set from the big kid swing set by more than a few steps!
And finally, the one indulgence that gives me the bit of peace I need every day to get dinner going and pick up the house: Mother Goose Club on Netflix.
And for some reason, they really love laying on their bellies and watching it on our laptop instead of the TV. (I prefer Netflix over regular TV because no commercials!) The baby simply loves the music and will wobble his head back and forth. And the toddler enjoys the rhyme schemes and fanciful play. So I let them have about 30 minutes of this just about every day which allows me to quickly restore peace and order to our home.
But back it up here, if you know me, you know I like to keep my technology SAFE around my little ones. So why in the world would I let them watch it on my laptop?
Because of our new found favorite invention: The KidLid!!! Check this out:
The KidLid fits perfectly over top of any 13″ or 15″ laptop keyboard and protects the buttons from being pushed and smashed and drooled on. It prevents the volume from going waaaaaaay up and the show getting stopped or skipped or WHATEVER those crazy kid fingers figure out how to do on the keyboard. My KidLid gives me an added peace of mind for my laptop’s sake while good ol’ Mother Goose gives me peace of LIFE in general.
Would I leave my kids unattended with the laptop even with the KidLid? No, definitely not. Because baby will still try to sit on the thing and the toddler can figure out how to push buttons underneath it if he wanted to. But can I turn my back on them to do the dishes while they sit together watching it? Yes. YES. Oh goodness, yes, and I am not ashamed of making the most of that time while they are occupied safely together.
So those are some things that my two kiddos enjoy doing together. Every mom will certainly find the activities that both (or all) of her little ones can agree on. My list is simply to get the wheels spinning in your mind. And once you find those activities: do them OFTEN! Harness their power! Grow the sibling bond and find some order to the chaotic life of a mom of two (or more!)
If you have a toddler AND baby at home, I think you might also like…
#KidLid
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