In addition to things like creating (and sticking to) a family routine, lots of FaceTiming with relatives and friends, and spending time outside every day, here are eight very specific things that are making quarantine with our 2 1/2-year-old easier.
Mac Barnett reading books on Instagram. Mac has written some of our all-time favorite children's books, and Miles loves watching him read them on Instagram. (Silly hats required.) It feels a little like more forgivable screen time, and we'll usually watch Mac read one or two while Kristie is getting lunch ready.
Sneaking chocolate. (For the moms, not Miles.) We've always kept a pretty robust stash of dark chocolate in a high cupboard in the kitchen, but in quarantine life it's grown substantially. We sneak with abandon. Those tiny treats (and tiny breaks) make me feel so good.
Toy rotation. I love this a lot. Once or twice a week I'll do a quick sweep of the house while Miles is sleeping, and bring down to the basement whatever toys have fallen out of favor lately. I'll bring up one or two that he's forgotten about while I'm at it, and when he wakes up and rediscovers them, it's often like getting new toys! We did this recently with his wooden train tracks, and he's been rocking independent play with them since.
Family Folk on Spotify. Having music on makes everything better (and helps us avoid turning on a screen when that's something we're aiming for) -- but there are only so many times I can listen to the Frozen II soundtrack. I recently found the Family Folk radio station on Spotify, and we love it. I don't even mind continuing to listen by myself once Miles has wandered with Kristie out to the backyard.
Involving Miles in chores. Does it take approximately thirty times longer to fold laundry, do dishes, or sweep the floor when a toddler is "helping"? Yep. But what else do we have to do? Miles likes helping, and we're teaching him how to take care of his own home someday. Plus I can get household things done (slowly) while hanging with him.
Art walls. Starting in March when daycare closed, we began hanging up in our living room almost every piece of art Miles has created while home with us. Now we have two full walls (floor to ceiling) decorated with his artwork. It's not the decor I might have chosen during simpler times, but he's so proud to see his work, and really enjoys helping to hang up new paintings or drawings.
Invitations to play. I get so much delicious satisfaction out of setting up "invitations to play" while M naps. Admittedly I did this more often when the weather was cooler; now that it's so lovely I feel less pressure to keep him engaged indoors. I turn to Pinterest and Instagram for inspiration for crafts, handwriting exercises, and sensory bin ideas. Again, I do this mostly because it fills my cup. Miles does like them, and sometimes will get really engaged and play for a good while, but more often than not he'll give the activity a few minutes and then move on.
Throwing shit in water. This is our time-tested, tried-and-true, always-wins activity. Whatever the weather, whatever his mood, if we take Miles to a body of water (even a big puddle) and provide a little bundle of sticks or pile of rocks, he's happy. For a loooong time.
