I had a few really rough days last month. For whatever reason I woke up late and Evin got up early. That meant leaving the house to go to work for 10 hours when he was awake. No big deal right? Wrong?
Screaming, crying, hysteria....
"Mommy hang out wme! Why? No! Hang out wme, pleeeease!"
Then me trudging out the door, broken hearted that I can't stay and hang with him.
(Not to mention, incredibly busy and short staffed and stressful at work)
On the other side of this coin is his poor Auntie who watches him all day. Every morning she had to turn on the baby monitor and listen for Evin to wake up, every morning he would wake up and yell, "Mom? Dad? Mom? Dad?" and when she would walk in to the room he would scream, "NO, get out of here!" and then sob, "mommy, mommy, daddy daddy." YUCK!
Something had to change. I remembered back to how successful the beginning of theme weeks was. Why?
We had a plan.
So we made a plan, a simple one. Activities that Auntie could wake Evin up with first thing in the morning that would be fun and exciting!
Day 1:
Story time at the Aquarium! We read a story about animals and then meet the animal and mom's there! That makes it even better!
Day 2:
Fizzing volcanoes
This was a fail on my part. I made a mixture of baking soda and water and froze it with marbles inside.
The plastic wrap was supposed to allow the marbles to pop out so that there would be a reservoir to pour the vinegar.....however it became a I found a marble fizzing party instead.
This morning was an added success because Auntie was wearing her ninja turtle pj bottoms as well so he was very excited to see those and tell her all about the ninjas first thing!
Day 3: The digger box!
This also worked for Day 4 as well!
I found a pack of construction toys and rocks to fill a vase for under $12 total at Target! I put the bin together and had Auntie hide it downstairs.
He played with it all morning that morning and more the next day and the day after too!
When I got home from work on Day 3 he said, "Mommy, Mommy, digger box, digger box," and went to find it. Then he said, "Auntie gave me it!" PROGRESS!
Day 5: Snack Tray
I prepared this in the morning before I left for work and then told Auntie where she could find it. Tada! Yummy breakfast and fun!
Day 6:
Foam letter fun!
This was auntie all on her own! They had fun making a card that said, "Auntie LOVES you."
Day 7:
I went to volunteer on my day off so I was dreading what it would be like when I left.....it was time to go Auntie came upstairs and told Evin he was going on a scavenger hunt. When it was time for me to head out the door he said, "Bye mom! Me Avavenger Hunt!"
Scavenger Hunt
Auntie planned a scavenger hunt around the house. She printed out these cards and then send Evin searching. He was moving WAY too fast to get pictures but at the end was a stash of TMNT goodies that were loads of fun! (Thanks again Target for having these fun things in the $1spot)
What do we call this? A SUCCESS!!!!
Nice! You've got a leg up on so many other working parents, you've got a kickass sister. Quick story; there once was a little girl who was watched by her aunt starting at about 8 weeks old. the little girls pent every day with her aunt and 3 older cousins. At about a year and a half, the little girls started calling her aunt 'mom'. The aunt had to explain the little girl that she wasn't her mom, but her auntie. 30 years later that little girl, who is a grown woman now, still refers to her aunt as Auntie. A special bond only the two of them shared. ;) There's something to be said about those special aunts.
ReplyDeleteSo many typos, my bad. But, you get the picture, right?
DeleteThanks Jess!
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