Tot Time

It was an unusual day here today. I had a MOPS Steering Team committee meeting this morning and yes, I took all the kids with me. Traveling with five kids is a bit different for me but we all did well. The meeting ran over by a half hour & ALL the kids were tired and hungry.

Miss L fell asleep on the way home after the meeting and I mean she was OUT! We tried waking her up & she was just totally conked out. Miss H though was all smiles & giggles & J playing peek-a-boo with her kept her wide awake.

I parked under our big maple tree in front of our trailer with tons of shade and all the windows down & left Miss L right in the truck. She slept for an hour in there. I fed the rest of the kiddos & kept looking out my kitchen window. She hadn't been awake long when I went to get her.

At this point it's close to 1pm and Miss H STILL hasn't slept and I know there is no way Miss L is going to sleep again for me. I ended up putting the pack-n-play in my bedroom. It did fit! I turned the fan on and settled Miss H down. It took her about a half an hour before she finally fell asleep.

I no longer had my "gate" of the pack-n-play to keep Miss L close. I figured it was a good time to try some "tot school." There are some really awesome ideas over at these two blogs... 1+1+1=1 (Tot School) and No Time for Flash Cards. I highly recommend checking them out if you have any little "tots" running around your house. I'm even planning to use some of the ideas for J & he'd be the first to tell you he is not a tot!

I will be using those resources to set up some sort of "school" time for at least Miss L if not Miss H. I know they would enjoy the structured play time.

Here are my attempts at winging it with Miss L though....

A bowl full of Cheerios & three measuring cups on the blanket in the living room. She did great keeping it all on the blanket for at least 15 minutes. She thoroughly enjoyed sampling her measuring medium. Even N had to get in on the fun of it all & show Miss L how to pour & measure. She was very cute to watch as she figured this all out. She really did a great job with it.

Once the Cheerios began migrating off the blanket & Miss L was trying to see what would happen when she stomped on them (I can only handle so much mess! LOL) I cleaned those up & handed her some poker chips. These were part of an activity bag swap item for counting. I didn't bother with the numbered index cards at this point but I gave her a new bowl with the chips & let her put them in & out of the bowl. This kept her occupied for at least another 10-15 minutes.

Getting her attention long enough to have her look up at me was tough! In fact, I think I actually touched her leg for this photo!

Finally the chips were loosing their appeal (and starting to fly around my living room - she has a great arm!) so she helped me pick those up (really!) and I pulled out this "big deck" of playing cards. I think this may have been her favorite (but the Cheerios would be a very close second). She spent at least 20 minutes checking this over & trying hard to get them back in to their container. She couldn't quite get them to line up just right but I think given the chance to play with them again, it wouldn't take her long.

All in all my impromptu "tot time" kept Miss L occupied long enough for Miss H to get in an hour nap. I also was shown just how much Miss L can do & what she enjoys learning. I'll definitely be trying to fit in some "tot time" this fall when we start back to school. Messes here we come!