“Written for Children’s Mercy Parent-Ish Blog

Sometimes you need answers to the little everyday things that parents encounter. And sometimes, you just need someone to encourage you through all of the craziness and challenges of parenthood. Welcome to Parent-ish.”

I am no expert in being a parent. But I try everyday. And I like to share my experiences - the good, bad & oftentimes hilarious as I navigate motherhood. Here is an excerpt from my first article, live now on the Parent-ish Blog!

As a working mom that made that choice, I have never truly realized how challenging it can be to entertain your toddler until recently. I have a deeper respect for our educators and stay-at-home-moms more than ever for their patience and creativity! You all deserve a medal, seriously. I will be honest, I am not the most crafty, Pinterest-worthy mom in the world, but I try and that’s all that matters.

What I have learned is that it’s more important to pick out one activity or craft at a time than to try to do it all at once.

I do think my toddler is more focused and stays engaged when he only has one toy or activity to play with vs. it being a free-for-all! Don’t get me wrong, that sometimes is necessary to do. Also, you don’t have to frantically order all the random crafts and toys to come up with fun activities. Seriously, most of the time I look around our house to see what we already have that can keep our toddler entertained for the day.

Rock Art Idea: Spend time outside collecting rocks from your yard or while on a walk around the neighborhood and once you have a handful, take them home to paint and add inspirational messages to. I love this activity because it’s two-fold including time outdoors and doing something creative. It will require paint and brushes, but you don’t need anything fancy to paint rocks! You can display the finished rocks in your yard.

Color Matching Game: If you are working on speech or thinking skills, I love this activity! Simply find random toys and household items in similar colors and let your toddler sort the objects together. I like to use baskets or cups (depending on the object's size) for him to sort while working on color recognition.

Create a sensory set-up: There is something magical about a sensory bin set-up...toddlers seem to go crazy for this! Find a plastic bin or use a water table and add your filler (rocks, pasta, dried beans, water, kinetic sand, water beads, etc.) and then items that can scoop or pour (cups, kitchen utensils, etc.) and random toys or objects. You can make it a theme or keep it random! Switch out the sensory items every week to keep it entertaining and different.