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Assemble some IKEA furniture and let them play with the boxes/wrapping. Kept my three-year old occupied for hours today.
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Jan 19, 2016 21:57
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Reason posted:2 year old kid. We can leave the house, but are limited to walking distance because my wife is using our single car to get to work and bus service is really poo poo around here. Also its rainy and cold so we don't go out as often as we did in the warmer/dryer times. Painting/Drawing/Coloring. Papercraft activities building something for mom when mom comes home, or just in general. Playing catch/fetch Challenge time! Build obstacles for your kid to climb over! Dancing! Playing instruments. Give them something they can bang along with. Gymnastics! Help them do rolls and flips and stuff. Hide and Seek! (not just each other, can be played with objects too) Teach them some basic social games like pattycake Cook together/wash dishes together/clean the floors together. Kids often like "helping", and if it doesn't really need to be done you can just sort of pretend. Build a tunnel system out of cardboard. Build a blanket fort. Combine tunnels and fort. Get a red laser light and make the kid chase it around.
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Jan 19, 2016 23:39
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Sockmuppet posted:Haha, I love when they do this. My kid would live on candy if I let her, but she refuses to even touch fish fingers, but scarfs down sashimi like it's going out of style. She hates cheese and potatoes in any way, shape or form, but will happily eat her way through a head of pickled cabbage. Pickled cucumbers seem to be a huge hit with our kids as well. And beef jerky.
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Jan 19, 2016 23:47
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GlyphGryph posted:... Warning: be prepared to leave said fort up indefinitely. We built one under our son's raised ("loft") bed and it became his sleeping quarters for more than a month. Apparently the blankets kept the monsters from being able to see him and so he could sleep better. We went away for a few weeks during the holidays and took it down hoping he would've forgotten by then, he didn't; at least it "wasn't us" who pulled it down!
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Jan 20, 2016 00:57
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Reason posted:Is this stuff as tasty as Play-Doh must be? The only thing he'll do with play-doh is eat it. Thanks for the painting garbage idea though, just need to get some safe paints. My daughter is almost 17 months and still doesn't understand "don't eat the art supplies" so I make paint out of plain greek yogurt and kool aid. Can't really hang up finished projects for display, but she doesn't give a poo poo so it works.
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Jan 20, 2016 01:29
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1up posted:My daughter is almost 17 months and still doesn't understand "don't eat the art supplies" so I make paint out of plain greek yogurt and kool aid. Can't really hang up finished projects for display, but she doesn't give a poo poo so it works. Vanilla pudding with food coloring. Colored sugar (like for decorating cookies) as glitter.
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Jan 20, 2016 02:41
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Reason posted:anyone have any activity recommendations for stay at home dads for inside the house? losing my loving mind here reading the same books over and over and watching the same cartoon on youtube. want some crafty fun poo poo that also entertains me a little bit or something. Outside of that... we left the house every day. Like, she's 6 now, and I don't think we've ever gone sunrise to sunset without leaving the house for something. I shop for groceries like a European, buying carrots one at a time, just so I can go back to the store again tomorrow and not lose my mind. I have a car *and* we are walking distance to the grocery store, and we used to take the bus sometimes just for the adventure. If the bus service sucks and only comes once an hour... gently caress it. Go for an hour.
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Jan 20, 2016 09:37
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1up posted:My daughter is almost 17 months and still doesn't understand "don't eat the art supplies" so I make paint out of plain greek yogurt and kool aid. Can't really hang up finished projects for display, but she doesn't give a poo poo so it works. This is a cool idea. I've been looking for a way to make edible paint and this would probably do the trick. Thanks!
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Jan 20, 2016 15:01
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Honestly, as someone who did the SAHM for a while, sometimes parenting toddlers is just really loving boring. I love them, but OMG the tedium. Playdates are good. If you can't drive, if you can connect with other SAHPs, you might make a friend who can come over to your place, or pick you both up and go out to a mall with an indoor play place or something. You can always hang out with the moms if you can't find other dads in your area - I doubt they'd mind adding a guy to their circles.
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Jan 20, 2016 16:06
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I'd do what it takes to have transport. If that means getting the whole family dressed and out the door to drop off and pick up the breadwinner, it might be worth considering. Otherwise, I'd seriously consider a bike with trailer, or the finest Honda Civic 2000$ will buy. As mentioned extensively, taking your kid out and narrating the poo poo out of your day is good for you and good for your kid. Take kid to the liquor store, discuss the merits of brown liquors, pick out the prettiest beer label, "I spy with my little eye a GREY dopplebock label". Do the math on how much you pay per ounce. Same with hardware stores, see what the heaviest hammer your kid can lift is. Go to museums. Every week go to museums. Doesn't even have to be a good museum or a different museum. Other thing to consider, the YMCA probably has daytime childcare for pretty much no money like 5$ an hour, and you probably need to get to the gym. Slo-Tek fucked around with this message at 18:20 on Jan 20, 2016 |
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Jan 20, 2016 18:14
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There was mention (several times, I believe) of the baby boxes kick-rear end countries that aren't the USA give to parents of newborns. Welp! San Antonio, Tx in the grand old USA is giving it a shot. http://www.kvue.com/story/news/local/2016/01/19/cardboard-baby-boxes-proposed-curb-infant-death/79017950/ KVUE posted:SAN ANTONIO -- Every year, a growing number of Bexar County parents lose their babies to sudden infant death. Now, University Health System is trying to end this rising problem with a remarkably simple solution.
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Jan 20, 2016 18:23
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Slo-Tek posted:I'd do what it takes to have transport. If that means getting the whole family dressed and out the door to drop off and pick up the breadwinner, it might be worth considering. Otherwise, I'd seriously consider a bike with trailer, or the finest Honda Civic 2000$ will buy. Unfortunately, in our state you can't bring kids into the liquor store, so you have to park them outside in the stroller. The passers-by and other patrons can help entertain them, though. You may want to bike lock the stroller in a bad part of town, since they can be spend to replace.
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Jan 20, 2016 21:30
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Slo-Tek posted:Go to museums. Every week go to museums. Doesn't even have to be a good museum or a different museum.
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Jan 20, 2016 23:08
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I doubt this is true everywhere, but our library system has discount/free passes available for a lot of local museums/parks/etc. There are limits on how often you can get them, but its very handy for hitting up different places without breaking the bank doing it.
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Jan 20, 2016 23:13
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Which brings about the point... libraries. There is a storytime activity nearly every day, and what with getting there, doing the activity, picking a book, checking it out, wandering around, getting home, eating lunch, going for nap...A 30 minute activity basically kills the whole day.
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Jan 20, 2016 23:55
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Also good - bubbles of any variety. If it's sunny get some bubble mixture and get him running round chasing them. If you can't go outside, fill up a sink with warm water and dishwashing liquid, grab all the plastic spoons, cooking utensils and containers you can find, and let him go wild. This keeps my 2 year old occupied for ages.
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Jan 21, 2016 07:53
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One activity I'd never heard of until our daycare did it, was playing with shaving cream. They just spray a big pile of shaving cream on the table and let the kids go nuts in it. When they're done, it just wipes away with a towel and doesn't leave a mess. http://www.simplefunforkids.com/shaving-cream-on-window.html/
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Jan 21, 2016 17:48
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Farquar posted:One activity I'd never heard of until our daycare did it, was playing with shaving cream. They just spray a big pile of shaving cream on the table and let the kids go nuts in it. When they're done, it just wipes away with a towel and doesn't leave a mess. Shaving cream also goes far in learning that we don't eat art supplies, because it tastes like poo poo.
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Jan 21, 2016 18:04
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The advice on managing our three-year-old has been helpful, and I feel like we're (slowly) making progress. Our son, on the other hand, has turned into the problem. He's 16 months, and we still have a hard time with him around sleep things. It is nearly impossible to get him to fall asleep on his own; he always wants to be held (while standing!) or lay on someone's lap. Occasionally, I can get him to drift off while playing with the iPad, but I don't like that for a long-term thing for obvious reasons. While our daughter usually can be put to bed around 8, our son doesn't seem to want to sleep until 10, which is when we want to get to bed. This seems pretty irregardless of the naps he has or hasn't taken that day. My running theory is that those two hours are when he finally gets one-on-one time with adults, but it's so frustrating not to be able to do the things we need to do (like pack up the house because we're selling it in a month). The worst of it all, though, is that on any given night there's a 50/50 chance that he'll wake up in the middle of the night and get really upset. Which means we have to get up. And because he only goes to sleep when being held, it sometimes means a very long night for us (last night was 2am to 5am before we could get him to settle down, taking shifts to try and give each other a little sleep). And some nights he is outright inconsolable, and squirms out of our arms to go wandering around looking half-drunk as he looks for I-don't-know-what crying the whole way. Holding him makes him cry; sitting on the couch with him makes him cry; giving him breastmilk makes him cry (according to my wife); setting him on the floor makes him cry. It's getting really old really fast, and as has been pointed out in this thread before, sleep deprivation is classified as a form of torture. We're getting really sick of it. Any advice on how to get the little boy to just loving let us sleep a full night regularly?
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Jan 21, 2016 19:21
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I know this is the least helpful advice ever Axiem but it sounds like you just gotta ride it out. My son went through a TON of spells like this where he was impossible to get to sleep, would wake repeatedly through the night, and so on. He self-weaned at 17 months and around then we had a nightmare sleep regression. I just had to stick it out. People told me that and I hated it, and I got no sleep, and I was a zombie. But it passed. He's now 2.5 years old and sleeps very well. Still wakes up once and needs to be comforted at least two or three times a week, but I'll take it. Hang in there.
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Jan 21, 2016 21:07
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I feel like I got it too easy sometimes. One of the twins went missing tonight and as I went looking for him I found him in his bed, sleeping. It was around their bedtime, so he'd decided it was time to go to sleep. Climbed over the fence to his bed, pulled the covers over himself and went to sleep. Not bad for a 2 year old. We've actually moved their beds to their own separate room this week. They've slept in our bedroom before. Went without a hitch, really. And our kids had to be held and carried to sleep until 17-18 months or so. It's only the last 3 months we can put them in their beds and get them to sleep.
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Jan 21, 2016 22:19
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I feel like I have it easy at times too. Nora, since 8 months, has slept through the night and goes to bed with no problem. Now at 17 months, I just say "time for bed" and she gathers blankets and stuffed animals (two small blankets and three specific animals that she HAS to have) and grabs my hand and leads me to her room. I put her in the bed, (full darkness) say goodnight and leave. She may stay up talking to her stuffed animals for another 10 minutes but that's it. Never cries or complains. Now, we have a litany of OTHER issues for sure! But thank god the sleep thing, so far, is smooth as silk.
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Jan 21, 2016 22:34
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Axiem posted:Any advice on how to get the little boy to just loving let us sleep a full night regularly? None at all, I have a 2.5 year old who is still a spectacularly crappy sleeper, rarely asleep before 21.30 and up at least twice every night. I'd google "chloroform dosage 2.5 year old" if I didn't think I'd get put on some sort of watchlist. I think some kids are just poo poo sleepers. Others are not, and they are the ones who get siblings first 
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Jan 21, 2016 23:02
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So, what do y'all reckon about sneaking computer after bedtime? My eldest aged 11 gets busted not quite once a week for sneaking back out of bed to play web browser games after lights out. We have locked down all the portable computers with passwords, and I guess computers in the public areas are next (possibly with internet lockouts after the dinner hour to make it not worth stealing anyway). As it stands now, we don't play computer games during the week, because we have homework, sports, extracurriculars, books, and family time. Weekend is unstructured, if we've got nothing else going on (and they haven't gotten busted for stealing computer earlier in the week) then you can watch minecraft videos and play clicky-games till their eyeballs melt. As it stands, getting busted during the week costs you at least a day of computer on the weekend, but from the evidence, that isn't sufficient deterrent. I kind of don't want to lock the computers down so much they aren't worth stealing because a) that is a pain in my rear end if I have to have password locks on everything, and b) want the kid to have some practice not stealing things that he wants, even if they are worth stealing. Explained plenty of times that he is in a world less trouble, and his weekend is much less disrupted if he get busted with books past lights-out than if I get up to pee and find his rear end frantically shutting down the living room computer at 11:30 on a weeknight. I used to go to serious devious length to play Ultima III on the family apple IIe when I was a sprout, and I can't remember if anything anybody did dissuaded me from it. Anybody else have any thoughts/recollections/suggestions?
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Jan 21, 2016 23:28
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Slo-Tek posted:Anybody else have any thoughts/recollections/suggestions? I remember being 13 and turning on the computer from 11pm to 3am to connect through my 56k bps modem and play a MUD on a low-contrast black-background terminal with the lights off. Started with the keyboard close to the screen to use the glare to see the keys. That taught me how to touch type, haven't looked at the keyboard since (except French keyboards). Made "god-level" and gained access to the code for rooms, items and monsters; it taught me how to program in C. Eventually went into Computer Engineering. I guess in my case, I'm glad I didn't get caught 
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Jan 22, 2016 00:06
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Apogee15 fucked around with this message at 05:40 on Feb 4, 2017 |
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Jan 22, 2016 00:30
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The week sounds maybe too structured.
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Jan 22, 2016 01:04
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Apogee15 posted:I snuck on to the computer in the middle of the night ALL the time. The games I played required internet access, so the way my dad did it was he kept putting different blocks on my access. He blocked my IP address, but then I learned how to change my IP address. He blocked my MAC address, so I learned to spoof that. If he *really* wanted me to not be on the computer, he's have to take and hide the power connectors. My folks took control of the power plug. I bought my own power plug at radio shack and kept it hidden in my room. Thing is, not trying to build a better criminal by giving him a danger-room of obstacles to play clicker-heroes. Trying to explain to him that 20 hours of computer games a week isn't exactly electron-starvation, and that sneaking to feed the need is bad long-term thinking, with clear and consistent consequences that suck, and that nobody in the whole rest of the world wants to hear about his high score on kiji.com, but they might be interested in his other observations, interactions, and accomplishments in the world. And the lad needs his sleep, trying to do junior high school on 4 hours a night isn't smart or healthy. Trying to provide habits and hobbies and experiences that will serve him better in the rest of his life than my level 99 party in Ultima III served me. Don't _think_ this is some kind of crazy tiger-dadding. His grades are better than mine were at his age.
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Jan 22, 2016 02:06
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Why can't he play a little each day, instead of binging on the weekends? If you're talking about building healthy habits for the future, being able to enjoy things in moderation is a much better habit than the "all or nothing"-thing he's got going on now.
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Jan 22, 2016 11:53
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I don't know if it's because her dad has been doing us off, our attempt to say quick goodbyes, or her finally getting back into the swing of things, but Ames has been great about going to school this week. We get her settled in pretty quickly, find an area she wants to play in, then say or farewells. She's just like, "Yeah, okay. Peace out" and goes back to playing. Hooray! She's also been sleeping in her own bed at night, and has been falling asleep with little help. We were never able to leave her before she fell completely asleep, but now she has us read just one book, maybe pat her back and hum for a minute or two, then we depart and she falls asleep on her own. Please let this last. We're actually getting uninterrupted sleep.
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Jan 22, 2016 15:04
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Night pooping, anyone? Apparently, despite loading baby up on fibre, she now poops exclusively in the bath or while she's asleep. Both of which upset her even more than when she poops while awake and dry. We're not even attempting the potty yet at 2 years, three months, because it freaks her out, but even soft poos seem to traumatise her enough to hold them. Any advice?
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Jan 22, 2016 17:56
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Before we get back to pooping, I just wanna share that my mom used to take the keyboard with her to work so I would just copy/paste individual letters from Windows Help to enter the password. Kids are resourceful.
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Jan 22, 2016 19:53
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precious
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re: computer games, I had the same reaction as Sockmuppet. The current setup seems kind of like trying to eat for the whole week on the weekend, and then telling him not to get hungry on school nights. Even as an adult, I get squirmy if something eats up my hour of free time in the evening, if there's something I've been looking forward to doing. Maybe setting a timer and letting him use the computer for 30 or 45 minutes in the evening will scratch that itch enough for him to be able to stay off when he's not allowed. Learning to play a little bit at a time rather than only in huge binges is also definitely a skill that will serve him well in life, as he gets older and wants more of a say in how to use his time.
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Jan 22, 2016 20:54
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For the dads, when did you start feeling a connection or bond with your child? My daughter's going on four months old and I mostly feel like she's an obligation. My wife did some searching online and I guess it isn't too uncommon for fathers to feel more or less indifferent for anywhere from a couple months to a year. I've just started going to counseling because we think I might have some signs of postpartum depression, but does anyone have any advice for how to get through this beyond "it'll get better"?
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Jan 23, 2016 23:00
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<---- Dad. I don't really have a comment on when you start feeling a bond. I will comment that the first 6 months or so they don't move around much or do much. When they hit a year and are walking then get talking really good it's a whole different ballgame.
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Jan 24, 2016 00:27
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While I wouldn't say I didn't connect at all in the first six months, I was definitely not as connected as I saw other parents being. I think this was mainly anxiety driven as I was just too worried to be lovey. After six months it started to fall away and about from 8-9 months on it got better. And like Hdip said, when they start walking/talking (although we're still in basic words and babbling phases) it got WAY better. When they can actively hug you or give you kisses, your affection will likely skyrocket.
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Jan 24, 2016 00:35
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I always had a bond, but I also had the feeling before like month 5 or 6 that the baby was more of a thing than a person, so once he gets past that point and begins showing the first signs of an actual personality and desire to properly interact with the world things might change for you, I dunno.
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Jan 24, 2016 00:37
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Dad chat: My baby's like 2 months old now and I'd say my feelings have been transitioning from responsibility to loving bond pretty gradually since birth. Now that he's smiling consistently and is learning to interact with me and the world, I am deffo feeling the good feelings <3 (but way less than my wife at this point)
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Jan 24, 2016 01:33
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I was super connected with mine the moment she shot out of my wife, but emotionally I'm kind of a chick. I will say that as a SAHD I interacted a lot with SAHM's that first year, and universally I feel like "dad didn't bond until the kid could move around" was common.
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Jan 24, 2016 06:29
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| # ? May 29, 2024 23:51 |
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As a dad, for me the transition point with our first kid was when she was able to talk enough that we could have a "conversation". That's when it finally felt like I really did have another human being to interact with. Then, it got a large boost when baby #2 came along, because when my wife was busy with the baby, I had to spend time with the oldest, and that's also helped a lot. Especially now that I drop her off at school three mornings a week; it becomes our special thing. Though it's still hard because my interaction with her is dropping of off at school, then I get home from work and we eat dinner and she goes to bed. And on weekends, I like actually having a break instead of watching the kids all day (though I do still spend time with them). With the now one-year-old, I don't feel as connected with him as I did with his older sister at the same age. It's probably harder with not-first-children. But we'll also see what happens when a) he can start talking and b) we have baby #3 (whenever that is).
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Jan 24, 2016 06:29
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