Good old fashioned fun...

By the end of the day, let's face it, we're ALL tired. And yes, insert TV and the decibel level in your home decreases multi-fold, barring the what to watch argument. My kids TV days started by me needing a quick "babysitter" for my 3 year old when I would put my 2 year old down for a nap (yes, my wee ones are only a year apart). It quickly turned into a crutch for us both. This became apparent  when the 2 year old dropped her nap and my 3 year old still requested "my" show. 

At this point, I sucked it up and played right on through the afternoon sans TV. Exhausted? Yep. Is this a good plan for everyone? Nope. I had the energy (barely) to outlast this phase. Gradually the requests for "my" show disappeared. Instead we built, read, baked and snuggled. Now at 6 and 7 my peeps have just clued in that there are shows on TV. Oddly, they don't ask to watch them... yet. They have, however, tried to convince me that my phone CAN do what so-and-so's mom's does. Apparently, "You can download it." :) 

It's a whole new world.

Here are some fun ideas if you feel like getting down into it:

1. Puzzles- In addition to the good old-fashioned kind, check out this site for fun new games:
The Logic Zone - Logic Problems, Logic Puzzles, Cryptograms
(these puzzles are great for the airplane and are easy to print out)

2. Cooking - always fun, though messy. It can take about 3 hours to bake cookies with kids under 5

3. Building. We love Quadrilla. It's hard to stop at just one set!

4. Reading time. Yep. When's the last time you all sat down in the middle of the day to read? We're working on that now, with surprisingly good results. It's hard for me to remember that this does not mean that since the kids are occupied, I should: empty the dishwasher, switch the laundry and pick up toys off the floor. It means: sit yourself down, pick up that tomb you've meant to read since college and talk story with your kids. Novel, huh?