While not crafting in the strictest sense, I include this post because I believe most moms will agree: it takes a LOT of crafty ideas to deal with kids. 🙂
I’m not terribly sure what my motives were – perhaps I was subconsciously vying for the ultimate Mom Karma, or my assured spot in heaven – but when my friend asked if I could watch her daughter on an early Saturday morning, I not only agreed, I volunteered to take on the third member of my son’s little circle of friends as well! Three, count ’em three two year-old children, in my house, for several hours.
Karma to the MAX.
Now, to be honest, I think most moms know that having your child’s friends over for a play date is often easier than having your child home alone. They entertain each other! Mom gets to poke her head in the playroom to make sure no one is climbing the furniture or painting the dog, and go back to folding laundry.
But THREE? That is ambitious, even for me.
S and J and M are all in the same class at daycare and M and S’s moms are both friends of mine, so I’ve practically adopted their kids anyway. Surely a few hours with such great kids would be a snap.
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| I mean COME ON! Look at these cuties! (Taken at a different event) |
Even with great kiddos, I learned a lot that day. In true bloggy fashion, I decided to share the few tips and tricks with you – not that these are deeply held secrets or anything, but it never hurts to share life experience!
Tip #1 – HAVE REINFORCEMENTS
I always tell my husband that if I’ve volunteered to host a play date, I take it entirely upon myself to handle it, and he is not obligated to help. Rarely does he fail to do so, however, so I’m a pretty lucky lady. In this case, I did enlist him, since several hours with three 2 year olds promised to be more fun with two adults. There was a period of about an hour when he ran an errand and I was sole chaperone, which I survived quite well, but it was definitely nicer to have his aide. It also proved more enjoyable to be able to be able to laugh together at the antics of the tots. 🙂
Tip #2 – TRADE GOODIES
In hosting, you’ve already offered your goodie – child-free hours to other grateful parents. Those parents are usually more than happy to offer other forms of assistance to the play date; supplying coffee for the caregivers, snacks for the kids, maybe even an activity. These little offers may seem small, but really do help make the whole experience more enjoyable. Having other snacks or activities provided helps keep the hosting parents from having to front all the goods for the date, and works as a great thank you. Just remember to do the same for the hosts when you get to drop off!
Tip #3 – IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT
On our triple play date adventure, I planned ahead a little, thought of some fun things to entertain the kids. I was more than likely overly concerned that they would be bored or need guidance to have fun. I’m not really sure where this crazy notion came from! Two year olds are AMAZING at creating their own fun, and half the time, you won’t understand what the heck is so amusing anyway. S was the first to arrive to our little soiree, and she and J immediately got down to the business of playing. When M showed up, the three seemed to have separated to different corners of the ring, different toys. Then, suddenly, they’d all babble at each other, laugh like fools, and swap it up! I had plans for games and songs and watercolors….and thankfully, I was wise enough to wait until it seemed they like they needed something new before intruding.
Tip #4 – ENGAGE!!!
I know, I know, right up there I said how nice play dates are since the kids entertain each other and you can do other things….but you’re missing a LOT of fun if you let the whole time go that way. Kids love to make you laugh, and love to play games. Best part of our play date was having the kids “dance to our tune”. We gave them instructions like “Crawl like a kitty! Hop like a kangaroo! Stomp like a dinosaur!” Watching them jump around and yell “RAWR!” was hysterical, and so adorable. And they naturally morphed it into their own game, where they would fall down after every instruction and announce it by going, “FALL DOWN!!” before bursting into hysterics. You can’t buy that kind of fun.
Tip #5 – A LITTLE STRUCTURE KEEPS IT ALL TOGETHER
I had a few activities planned, plus meals and snacks. It really seemed to help make the hours flow nicely to be able to call the kids together to have a snack, paint some pictures, have their lunch, etc. Overly planned isn’t the way to go, but kids crave order (per numerous articles, written by educated professionals and parents) and having some structure to break up the chaos is definitely helpful. See what FUN we had! 🙂
Nothing terribly earth-shattering here, just some tips from my first Tri-Tot experience. 🙂 If nothing else, a great excuse to share pics and stories of the fun we had with the cuties. 🙂