I think I need to lighten up
Moms View Message Board: Parenting Discussion: Archive July-December 2005:
I think I need to lighten up
Before I had kids and worked full time I always thought that I would be a fun loving parent who wouldn't mind if their kids got dirty or made messes here and there.
Now that I have kids, I can't stand it. When Matthew throws his food (which he's been doing for at least 6 months) it drives me crazy! When I worked outside the home, I was extremely neat and organized at work, very detailed oriented, at home I was more relaxed. Well I guess I have taken my new job too seriously and now I'm the same way at home. Poor Matthew I hardly even let him colour cause I'm afraid he's going to get it on table or the walls.
I want my kids to have fun. I have a huge roll of brown paper, I'm thinking of rolling out a large sheet on the floor, take Matt down to his diaper and give him some finger paints and let him go!
Any advice or suggestions on this or other messy activities I can do with my toddler?
Help me lighten up! 
The whole body fingerpaint idea is so much fun. I have done that with each of my kids, although I usually have them do it on the back patio in the summer, then hose them off. Any projects with glitter are sure to be messy and playdoh or glop can end up everywhere. Many kids like to fingerpaint with pudding, I let my kids loose with a single serving tub and they would decorate their high chair tray. "Writing" in shaving cream is fun and so is playing with tubs or large bowls of uncooked rice with small toys hidden inside. HTH Have fun lightening up!
Tub paints are a lot of fun, and the mess is fairly contained and easy to clean up.
Here is the set we had.
Oh, and I can certainly relate! Before kids my house was very clean and organized. It was very hard at first but I had to learn not worry so much about having a clean house. There will always be housework. There will not always be little feet padding around the house. Cherish them while you can.
I just throw an old sheet on the kitchen floor and let her at it- then you just rool up and toss or wash it! She loves it! We do alot of stuff with pipe cleaners and stamps too- not quite as messy!
My kids all loved standing at the sink and "washing dishes". You can also let them take the cup of pudding into the tub to "paint". Easy cleanup. Now that the holidays are almost here; try having them fingerpaint and handprint on a long sheet of paper. Laminate it and it can turn into a placemat for a family member. My kids like to paint watercolors on seashells. Trace and color fall leaves. Have fun!
I'm not sure what to tell you to do to lighten up. But for me it is sort of like this. If it can be cleaned up with soap and water and is not a blatant attempt at rebellion, I let it go and try to have fun with them. Certain rules, crayons and paint are meant only for paper mommy has ok'd. If found on walls or furniture without permission, it gets put away. It happened once, I put them away for a week which was an eternity for her cause she loves it and it hasn't happened again.
If the food throwing is in the boundary seeking category and depending on how old he is, it needs to stop. But he may just see it as a game that gets a reaction from mommy and he thinks it is funny. Stop reacting, clean up the mess when he has finished and out of sight and it may stop.
My mom was real uptight about stuff. She would not let me play with Play-Doh or Silly Putty. I never did finger paints as a kid, etc. It was all too much for her to deal with.
Put down a cover, get down with them, keep the mess within boundaries, have fun, toss the cover or wash it when you're done.
Miss Frizzle, from the Magic School Bus says Get Messy, Make Mistakes! Playdoh does get all over the floor, but we have linoleum, so easy enough to sweep up when it's hard. My kids LOVEd playing with playdoh.
They also liked painting, too, whether with fingerpaints or eventually with watercolor paints. Since he is so young yet, you can get those painting books where you just put water on the brush and paint in the book. He would have a blast and you don't get as much mess.
Cool whip!! On a placemat, on just your table if you don't mind, on a cookie sheet, whatever. Fun, edible, and SQUISHY!!! (I always used shaving cream with my K's, but they weren't quite as oral as our little ones still are)
Play dough, although I've tried this with Natalie (16mths) and she's not into it yet. It just yucks her out and she wants it off her hands.
We have a big roll of newsprint (it's free from your local newspaper)for scribbling. Natalie likes it, but is more into putting the crayons in her mouth right now. We're working on it. It's funny because she doesn't put too much in her mouth anymore but she just can't resist those crayons! LOL
Stickers also. Nat loves to put them on herself. Stickers will occupy her for 30min. I think teh ones I have will just come off of anything...they don't stick too well, so I don't have to worry too much. She would rather put them on herself than anywhere.
We also got stamps at the $1 store (I have tons but those are MINE) of animals and such. They wer like 6 to a pack with a good handle for her to hold. We're going to try those out next week.
Have you ever tried "The Toddlers Busy Book"? It's great and FULL of ideas that seem so easy but that I never thought of. We've been saving a lot of those ideas for the cold weather (which is here for us)when we're trapped in the house and getting cabin fever!!
Good luck!!
Bingo dabbers are fun to paint with.
Mine foot painted while in the jolly jumper.
Give them some ingredients to mix together - flour, water, etc. Lots of fun!
Goop - cornstartch and water.
Stamp paint with kitchen utensils (potato masher, etc), or anything else that leaves a cool pattern.
Mine were messy like that every day, and we sure have tons of artwork to show for it.
Hey ladies -
Thanks for all the ideas - my ds is 26mo and I never feel like I'm doing enough hands-on things with him. Mommy guilt? I read to him every day, we spend time outside, go to playgroup, storytime, etc. I just feel like it is not enough and he is still watching too much ELMO.
It doesn't help that we've all been sick on and off for the past 10 days - ds vomiting, all with colds, dh vomiting, ds up for 1.5 hours in the middle of the night last night- I got 2.5 hours of sleep Mon night, and 4.5 hours last night. It is hard to be an amazing, energetic mommy when you are soooo tired. I think I use up all my energy being patient and loving.
Any other 2yo activities that don't take huge amounts of energy - but are still interactive and fun would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Amy
DD loves shaving cream in the bathtub! She creams it on the wall and then writes letters and pictures in it. I've been meaning to try the bathtub crayons but never got around to buying them.
I have to say I don't mind finger paints as much as I do Playdoh! LOL I find little dried up pieces for days and days. LOL
Have fun!
We have those markers that only mark on certain paper...Connor loves them!
I'm the SAME way! I'm anal about cleaning. In fact, I'm too paranoid to introduce a spoon to Connor for fear what might happen.
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