As the mother of eight kids, there are countless special milestones I’ve witnessed—from first words, first teeth, and first steps to eating independently, sleeping through the night (yahoo!), attending school, learning to read, first soccer goal, and so much more.
Because of my long bout with infertility, when I finally did become a mother, I truly relished all those firsts. Although I had plenty of days where I thought I’d lose my mind having so many babies and toddlers so close in age, I soon realized that they weren’t going to be babies and young kids for long so I had better enjoy even the frazzled days before they were long gone.
With four of my eight either graduated from or attending college and the remaining four in junior and senior high school, I’m experiencing exciting new milestones—driver’s licenses, dating, prom, after-school jobs, and moving kids to colleges far away from home (bittersweet!).
I try to live in the present and enjoy the ages that my kids are today rather than living in the past. But I can’t help but smile when I reminisce about one of my favorite age groups—toddlers. In my opinion, the toddler years are definitely to be cherished. Toddlers are inquisitive by nature and love to investigate their surroundings all while revealing their blossoming personalities. They also are adorably cute, love to snuggle, are very active and above all they enjoy spending time with mom and dad. The toddler years are both exhausting and exhilarating and definitely a time for tremendous growth and development. Mighty Mommy shares four ways you can maximize your child’s fast-paced toddler days.
Explore Together
One sure way to connect with and support your toddler’s increased curiosity is to explore with him. In an article from the University of Illinois Extension, Dealing with Toddlers they site that exploring is good. “Though it can be hard to keep up with an exploring toddler, exploring is good! It helps children grow in important ways.” “First is the growth of intelligence. A toddler's interest in learning about the world encourages him to use his senses–tasting, touching, seeing, and smelling. His senses help him understand how things are different from each other and how they work.”
A few fun ways for you and your toddler to explore together are:
· Let him find mirrors around the house so he can recognize his own face. Take it one step further by labeling body parts and articles of clothing.
· Get tactile with items like play dough and finger painting.
· Explore the great outdoors such as your backyard or a nearby park.
· Open closets such as the broom closet or the kitchen cabinet where your plastic storage bins are stored and let him put lids on and off and build a tower with the containers.
· Play hide and seek. Toddlers love to go on the hunt for people and objects. Hide a favorite object that your toddler is familiar with and help him with simple clues so he can find it. Let him hide something like a wooden kitchen spoon that you will find. The interaction alone will be time you can cherish for years to come, like when you’re dropping him off for his first year at college!
Clean and Organize Together
One common trait amongst toddlers is their ability to be messy! Most thrive in a chaotic world of having their entire toy bin emptied all over the playroom floor, and are totally ok with dragging their prized possessions all throughout the house, leaving legos, puzzle pieces, doll accessories and stuffed animals in their wake.
Messy toddlers are the norm but now is the time to start showing them how to organize their toys and games, one step at a time, so they will learn about the responsibility of caring for their things. Author Heidi Murkoff of the best-selling What to Expect Series agrees and also believes you can make clean-up time less daunting for your little one by making it manageable. She writes in Cleaning Up Toys: Tips for Teaching Toddlers that “Both you and your child will go crazy if you try to keep a cap on the mess all day. With younger toddlers, it's better to wait until the end of the day to clean up everything at once. Pick a consistent time (say, right before washing up for dinner), and make it a regular part of your child's daily routine.” When my kids were young toddlers this is how we managed their daily mess. At about 5 PM, I’d turn off any distractions like the TV and I’d put on some fun sing-a-long music. We’d spend the next 15 – 20 minutes picking up toys together and organizing anything they had taken out of their bedrooms. The music made it silly and fun and because it was part of our everyday routine, they knew this was a part of our daily schedule and as they got to be older, they could do it with less supervision.
See Also: How to Get Kids to Help Out with Chores & 7 Creative Toy and Craft Storage Solutions
Enjoy Food Together
Sitting down to a hearty meal is usually not on the top of a busy toddler’s list of how they’d like to spend time. Most like to pick at snacks and quick on-the-go items throughout the day because they don’t want to interrupt their very important agenda of play and more play. Busy families with kids of all ages are finding it more and more difficult to sit and enjoy a family meal together because of our overscheduled lives, and when we get into this habit as the parents of young toddlers, we lay the foundation that not eating together is the norm. Anne Fishel, family therapist and co-founder of The Family Dinner Project shares on The Washingtonpost.com that “20 years of research in North America, Europe and Australia back her enthusiasm for family dinners.” “It turns out that sitting down for a nightly meal is great for the brain, the body and the spirit.” She elaborates that “researchers found that for young children, dinnertime conversation boosts vocabulary even more than being read aloud to, and children who eat regular family dinners also consume more fruits, vegetables, vitamins and micronutrients, as well as fewer fried foods and soft drinks.”
I have long been a proponent of eating together for as many meals as possible so that you can engage with your kids on a consistent basis, even if the meal only last 20 minutes long. Get your toddler excited about family meal time by letting her help set the table with items like napkins or plastic cups. Let her see you preparing dinner and perhaps help stir the pasta sauce or add something to the salad. Engage her with warm and loving praise for helping and turn meal preparation and eating together a time during the day that will be anticipated with glee.
Do Nothing Together
In an article written for Scholastic, Dr. Hirsh-Pasek, co-author of Einstein Never Used Flashcards: How Our Children Really Learn and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less says "There is a myth that doing nothing is wasting time, when it's actually extremely productive and essential,"she says. "During empty hours, kids explore the world at their own pace, develop their own unique set of interests and indulge in the sort of fantasy play that will help them figure out how to create their own happiness, handle problems with others on their own, and sensibly manage their own time. That's a critical life skill."
Spending time just chilling out with your toddler is one of the best gifts you can give him.
Spending time just chilling out with your toddler is one of the best gifts you can give him. Unscheduled blocks of time throughout your week can be a wonderful way to connect with your toddler and at the same time, let him just putter around his environment investigating and entertaining himself with whatever his little heart fancies. I referred to this as “lay low” time with my 8 kids and made sure we had chunks of this unstructured time on a very regular basis.
Some days they would get completely absorbed in pretend play or looking through their books and coloring, other days they would just meander around being silly or seeking me out as a playdate. It really didn’t matter how that time was spent, as long as it was unstructured down time.
How do you spend time engaging your toddler? Share your thoughts in the comments section at http://ift.tt/1zMEe2L, post your ideas on the Mighty Mommy Facebook page. or email me at mommy@quickanddirtytips.com. Visit my family-friendly boards at http://ift.tt/1wyJKr5.
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