No's

 

My day is filled with ‘no’s’. This is not fun for me or my toddler.

How can I make the day more manageable for him and me?

 

Toddlers are busy.

They love to run, explore and play.

They enjoy talking and singing and being loud.

They are little and still fairly new at this thing called life.

We are big and fairly experienced at this thing called life.

So we should be in charge of the day.

We have been around longer and understand the importance of nutrition, safety, sleep requirements and varied indoor and outdoor play opportunities.

Having a pattern for the day that includes a balance between quiet and slow activities with the loud and busy activities is best.

Print out the pattern for the day (with pictures) and place it in a prominent place in the house. Refer to it often.

Watch most of the ‘no’s’ disappear within a few weeks. J

 

I have two beautiful children – a  3 year old and an 18 month old.

My day is chaos. Please help.

This is a busy season for you. Each day will be long and full.

There will be messes and tears.

This is very normal.

To make things a little bit more manageable for you and calmer for you and your precious wee ones, try to have a bit of a pattern for your day.

Balance the day between independent play times ( so they learn self-play adeptness skills and you get a chance to tacckle some household tasks),

some focus play time (where you enjoy this special stage and their little love tank is filled to overflowing),

some sibling play time (at a time when you can supervise and promote their friendship)

and some side-by-side play times (where you work on household tasks while they enjoy their play).

Let the pattern be a help to you, not a stress.

On a lovely sunny day your outside play may take up most of the morning.

On a grumpy, grizzly day, the TV time may be extended.

Have an idea of what the day will look like yet be prepared for change too!