If you are or have ever been a toddler parent, you know the struggle can be SO VERY REAL. Tantrums, yelling, hitting, you name it; not easy! Throw that unreasonable (but oh-so-adorable) tiny human into quarantine with no end in sight and boom…you have yourself a little tornado just ready to tear apart you and your house. My three-year-old Liam is especially skilled in the “saying no to everything” category and scores highly in “doing the very thing you DON’T want me to do” 100% of the time. He’s the best. When COVID hit, we knew we weren’t going to keep him in preschool because our twins were arriving in May so it became real clear real fast that things could end badly. Were we setting ourselves up for failure? Would he be raised by Netflix? We knew we had to do a few things right from the start:
- Create a Routine and Stick to It / For me, meals, playtime, learning, rest…everything needed to be planned out so that he would know what to expect each day. Of course, that routine could be flexible but still. I needed a list of all the things to help me sleep at night.
- Form Realistic Expectations / Did I want to create the perfect learning, growing, thriving environment for him? Of course! Was I going to do all I could to make it happen? Definitely. Was it realistic to think that I could be his full-time teacher, snack-maker, craft-helper (and Mom), all while keeping three other kids alive? Absolutely not. I had to put the mom guilt aside and tell myself that it would be okay to do a few things every day that helped him learn, kept him happy, and made things fun.
- Set Boundaries and Have Consequences Ready / The human toddler can be an adorable but frustrating animal and despite my best-laid plans, sometimes things just fall apart. I knew I had to stick to my guns with consequences and rules around the house. I’ll share an update on this in a future post, I’m sure it will be amazing lol. Also, pray for me.
- Incorporate Independent Time / While I wanted to give Liam an hour-by-hour itinerary for his entire day, we would/could 100% lose our minds. Quarantine life told me that we needed some quality alone time to make this work. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? We decided to take a good nap after lunch (and by “we” I mean him) and have Lego-building or Play-Doh-sculpting breaks throughout the day; I could let him do his thing and we were both better for it.
So…after making a plan for how we could make it out of quarantine alive, I found some goodies to build myself a little Happy Toddler Supply List. Take a peek and tell me if you have anything else that works for you, I’ll take all the help I can get!
- Educational Screen Time / If times get tough, I like to have a good mix of fun, educational options locked and loaded on the iPad. We’re big fans of the Osmo kits. A future post about screen time favorites is in the works because WINTER IS COMING! Stay tuned.
- Play-Doh / An oldie but a goodie, enough said…PSA, avoid the carpet.
- Art Supplies / We love all things Ooly but especially their chunkies paint sticks and left-right crayons.
- Self-Serve Snacks / Liam asks for food every 9-12 minutes and I. Can’t. Take It. I like to let him choose (kinda) by laying out some options that he can reach on his own.
- Individual Play Space / This is our reading nook, chill zone, hide-and-go-seek spot, you name it!
- Activity Books / Highlights and Little Golden Books both offer a ton of books that cover a variety of topics and make learning fun. Liam feels super smart when he works through the pages, 100% kid-approved!
- Outdoor Play / Nothing takes the rage out of an angry toddler like some solid outdoor play. My personal fave is the type he can do on his own. I’m giving him some independent time and also avoiding his less than pleasant attitude which is a win-win if you ask me.
- Coloring Paper / I can’t believe I JUST NOW found this gem at Ikea but it’s definitely helping to create some toddler zen in the house. It also works to calm a stressed parent…so I’ve heard.
Hope you’re keeping the little ones in your life occupied during quarantine without too much stress. Have a great day out there!