Killing Time

I certainly enjoy hanging out with the kids but on some days, for a variety of reasons, taking care of them becomes nothing more than trying to kill time until nap or bedtime. On Sunday I was sick and Kristin was babysitting her grandma, so I had to try to entertain the kids with limited activity and movement on my part, while keeping them safe. We luck out with Cole because he spends a good amount of time in the morning "reading" or coloring or playing with his letters - all pretty quiet activities and easy to monitor. 

Henry enjoys some quiet activities too (here and there)



Out of desperation, I also tried sticking Cole and Henry in baskets to keep them corralled. Cole actually stayed in a basket for about 30 minutes...that much closer to nap time! Henry is a little more difficult and spends a lot of time on the go, especially since his walking has really improved of late. I did manage to kill about 15 minutes by letting him play with a computer cord (safe enough, I guess).

Out of sight out of mind

Letting Cole and Henry play together while trying to do the lazy parent routine is becoming more difficult. Every time Henry picks up a toy Cole instantly wants it from Henry, which means he takes it and Henry cries. Then I have to yell at Cole and he makes a sad face and pouts off somewhere. It is all super annoying and I hate to see this glimpse in the future when the boys are constantly fighting. I'm hoping Henry continues to catch up in size and this problem inevitably takes care of itself, but for now it makes it very hard to parent from the couch.

Luckily this Sunday I was saved by my Mother. She came over around noon to help out and allow me to rest. It is also nice that she came over because being a lazy parent allows the kids to make an unbelievable mess (thanks for picking up Mom).

More pics from the weekend...

Cole playing "stick hunter." He, of course, put the sticks in a nice straight line.



Eating Popsicles with Great Grammie



One of my favorite Grammie Debbie traits is she will often call things by the wrong name. I believe Saturday Night Live wrote this skit about her (sorry, we may have made this comparison before, but I still find it funny). Below is the "phone" purchased for Cole's farmhouse. Let's see...a play and stop button, volume control and a picture of a TV. Hmmm, could it be a remote control? The music button even plays songs about a remote. Also pictured below is Cole's new backpack, which he and Grammie went shopping for together and he loves.Upon purchase Grammie told Cole it was a dog and they barked at it and call it the "red puppy." When they got home it took us one quick glance to determine it is very obviously a FOX. After three days of arguing with Cole he is finally open to the idea of sometimes calling it a fox, although he mostly still says, "It not a fox, it just a red puppy!"  When stuff like this happens, as it often does with Debbie, Kristin and I like to call it a "Classic Debbie move."

The phone/remote

The dog/fox backpack