Spinoff to Grandparents as Nanny's

I saw a lot of people comment that they don't want their kids just sitting in front of the TV all day. That they want people more engaged with the kids. So I am wondering if you are home with your kids all day, what do you do with them?

I work. When I get home I need to prep dinner and clean up and laundry and homework. On the weekends, we have some classes and I try to do some things with my son but I also want some time for me. I try to encourage him to play by himself because that is extremely important for a 5 year old but all he wants to do is be with me.

Just wondering what other parents do....

Spinoff to Grandparents as Nanny's

We do puzzles, playdoh, crafts (paint, etc), coloring, practice our tracing/writing -- (DS is 3), watch a movie, make food together. Sometimes we go to the museum or on a playdate at someones house. Obviously when it is nice out we go to the park, take a walk, play in the yard. I hate the winter!!

Spinoff to Grandparents as Nanny's

My DS would literally watch TV all day long if I let him.

On the weekend, my DH lets my DS watch TV when I go to the gym in the morning. After I get home and shower, we then run errands and eat lunch. In the afternoon, I encourage him to play with his toys (playdoh, trains, coloring). He also loves to play hide and go seek and pretend that he's a dinosaur. In the summer, we go to the park, pool, etc.

Spinoff to Grandparents as Nanny's

I'm home on leave with my twins. They are 9 weeks old but I do an hour of play per day tummy time, music etc. during the day. When DH gets home we keep them up for the most part and hang out hold them play for about 3 hours until bed. When I go back to work I'm working 2 12 hour days so my husband will have them in the evenings and play. The other 3 days I'll be working in the evening. Those days we will go for walks, play at home and we are enrolled in library classses. Dinner I make sure I can make in 30 min or less. Obviously this will change as my kids get older!

Re: Spinoff to Grandparents as Nanny's

My 3.5 year old is in daycare all day during the week. he NEEDS stimulation or else it's hellish for all of us. So weekends we try to find an activity out of the house for a bit. We often have bday parties, or we go to a story reading at Barnes and Noble or something. At home he'll do lego with my husband, puzzles, play trains. Any weather over 45 we go outside for a bit.

The baby is almost 6 months. She does tummy time, I read her books, she has a playmat she likes to hang out on. She'll be starting daycare next month, too.

Spinoff to Grandparents as Nanny's

My kids are in daycare/school all week as well.

On the weekends, we have some tv time but, we also try to go someplace, have friends over, etc. Nothing crazy but, they need some time out of the house (even if it's just to play in the yard).

Spinoff to Grandparents as Nanny's

I work 3x a week but on my days home with my kids I try to take them out as much as possible. I am really not very good at doing things with them at home, so i try to take them out if possible--- to the museum, or library, or play dates, or their activities (gymnastics, dance etc) during the week . Summer time, out in the yard, the public pool, beach etc. Now that they have dropped their naps i will let them watch more tv on their down time, but i really try not to. I will bake with them occasionally and try to do work books, or seasonal projects for the holidays (egg decorating, ornament making, pumpkin painting etc) but its not my forte..

Spinoff to Grandparents as Nanny's

When I'm home on weekends/summer/breaks Dd watches very little tv. We usually spend the mornings going to museums/zoos/aquariums/parks/etc. I try to find as many cool places around Long Island as possible. We see friends, run errands, go outside when it's warmer.

Afternoons we cook/do learning activities/craft/visit family/read books.

Dd (2.5) also takes ballet and soccer weekly year round, and does a farm camp for an hour once a week over the summer. For now, ds (4 mo) just tags along. Once he's 2 he'll start doing activities (soccer/farm camp) also.

Spinoff to Grandparents as Nanny's

It's funny you post this because I was wondering the same thing. DD is in daycare all day during the week. The hour and a half between when I pick her up and DH gets home/we eat dinner is the witching hour. I have to keep her occupied while I cook dinner and I'd be lying if I said I never let her watch her youtube videos or let her play on her kindle. We chat about what she's watching and sing along to the songs I wouldn't get anything done otherwise.

On the weekends we go shopping, out to eat, run errands, sometimes we'll do an activity geared to her (aquarium, carousel). She's starting swimming soon, so that will be every week. It's almost always just the 3 of us. She loves "bunch" (brunch)!

Re: Spinoff to Grandparents as Nanny's

We do play doh/kinetic sand

Crafts
Board games
We do our letters and numbers through toys

We also watch tv. Dance. Dress up

They have their toys (like peppa pig) they play with

My kids are up early so I try to plan ahead what we will do

Also we are out of the house a lot

Re: Spinoff to Grandparents as Nanny's

Re: Spinoff to Grandparents as Nanny's

Spinoff to Grandparents as Nanny's

in all honesty- weekends are horrible around here! LOL DS is 6- he's an only child, has no cousins either, we have no family that lives close ( IE grandparents that say "hey! let me stop by and take him out for ice cream..." ) to help break up the days. our friends all work full time and have their own family things going on on the weekends. So its me, DS, and DH. DS get SOOO bored... and its hard to keep him busy! going to the kids stuff (museums, play places, etc) are all so crowded on the weekends and expensive... so honestly, most of the time we end up just hanging around the house. and if i'm honest, he spends hours a day on his iPad. watching netflix videos, playing Minecraft, youtube videos... we watch movies. a lot of times we'll go out and do errands and then go out to eat. but he's old enough to wine and question us why he has to go to home depot HAHA so it gets annoying i can't wait for warming weather, and for his younger brother to get here from Korea- so hopefully the 2 of them will run around together.... because i can't take being the only source of his entertainment!! HAHAHA

Re: Spinoff to Grandparents as Nanny's

Posted by ml110

in all honesty- weekends are horrible around here! LOL DS is 6- he's an only child, has no cousins either, we have no family that lives close ( IE grandparents that say "hey! let me stop by and take him out for ice cream..." ) to help break up the days. our friends all work full time and have their own family things going on on the weekends. So its me, DS, and DH. DS get SOOO bored... and its hard to keep him busy! going to the kids stuff (museums, play places, etc) are all so crowded on the weekends and expensive... so honestly, most of the time we end up just hanging around the house. and if i'm honest, he spends hours a day on his iPad. watching netflix videos, playing Minecraft, youtube videos... we watch movies. a lot of times we'll go out and do errands and then go out to eat. but he's old enough to wine and question us why he has to go to home depot HAHA so it gets annoying i can't wait for warming weather, and for his younger brother to get here from Korea- so hopefully the 2 of them will run around together.... because i can't take being the only source of his entertainment!! HAHAHA

Re: Spinoff to Grandparents as Nanny's

I let them watch the tv/ipad occasionally but I don't like the kids becoming dependent on it. I want them to know how to entertain themselves.

They play with toy cars, stuffed animals, draw on their easel, play basketball (I have a mini indoor set), do puzzles, color, play with building blocks or play doh, look through books (they can't read yet), run around trying to catch each other, my older son does his "homework"... stuff like that. On the weekends we spend much of the day out usually.. we do errands, food shopping, go to the park or take walks, etc.

I feel like everybody else who spends time with them does the exact opposite. My mom watches my little one (who's almost 2) while we work & leaves the tv on the entire day. My brother just hands him his phone & lets him watch wiggles on youtube the entire day... I've asked him so many times to please not do this, I don't think it's good for his eyes either to have a screen right in his face all day... but my brother is too lazy to actually play with him so it's easier for him to just hand over his phone when he demands it Even DH lets them use the ipad too much & always wants to have the tv on even just for background noise... I don't get it. I'm fighting a losing battle because despite my best efforts when I'm home, the kids still watch way too much tv/shows & are addicted to it.

Re: Spinoff to Grandparents as Nanny's

I believe "normal life" including housekeeping, laundry, fixing stuff, bathing, cooking, food shopping, going to post office or bank, doing yard work, shoveling snow, etc. can be very educational for little kids (and fun).

There is no wrong or right... but looking back after 3 kids and very different circumstances, I think it is hard to expect someone to play with your kids all day. I think there is value in the day to day versus constant stimulation too. That being said, preschool age becomes a point at which socializing becomes educational too (and I think is really important).

Technology has its uses (restaurants being a great example).

We all do the best we can/think. Keeping kids safe and giving them love is the most important thing.

I'm home with kids now... most of the day, I do things for our home... but we do activities (Lego, park, puzzles, art/swim/skate lessons) 4/7 days and do educational stuff 4/7 days. Everything "special" is in the evening/weekend. It's exhausting and the other days we veg out, watch a movie, play (kids don't have electronics yet).

Re: Spinoff to Grandparents as Nanny's

I'm not great at playing with my own kids, so I don't expect my parents to play and entertain them all day long either. They do the best they can and warm weather helps a lot bc they'll throw them out in the backyard, and they'll run around and tire out.

I'm better with organized activities and do Mommy and Me classes. I need to be more active with them. Some good suggestions above for me to follow.