Seeking Advice for a Bored Mom and 23 month old.

[MandaSea]

I feel like I'm going to literally lose it sometimes. I've been a SAHM since day 1 and have been miserable 80% of this time. Don't get me wrong I love spending time with ds but sometimes it feels like we both have cabin fever. I live in a really small town that offers NOTHING to do other than a lame park. The nearest City is 45 miles away so it's pretty impossible to do anything until the weekend. I feel so bad for ds because he is so lonely and doesn't have anyone to play with. I have two friends because most of the parents my age are immature and leave their kids with anyone just to party. Out of those two friends their children are too big and don't want to play with ds. We enjoy arts and crafts and thanks to a mom on another post I found this really cute craft blog. DS also loves to be outside and just exploring. I just wish there was something else to do other than park time, outside time, and movie time (please don't judge me..but he loves Pixar films)

My question is what do you do for fun if you live in a small town?

[ScottyG]

I stay home with my 2 girls (10 months, and just-turned-3-YO) in a very very small town.  I don't always do so great at this either, but here are some activities I tend to fill my days with:

Long exploratory walks in the baby carrier and/or stroller or wagon.

Playing, and maybe even reading some books(!), at the library.

Backyard play time.  We got a Little Tikes swing/slide thing for extra entertainment.

Playing in the mud.

Kitchen floor + mixing bowls + water + cups = endless entertainment.

Play-doh.

Frequent grocery / farm market trips.  Seems silly, but I shop often in small amounts, so I can keep food fresh, and explore local options, and it can be a fun task to do.

Feed the birds/ducks.

Road trips to special "new parks" and the like.  45 minutes doesn't seem crazy to me for a weekday.  Not OFTEN, but certainly once a week or so, I could see hopping in the car right after naptime, playing in the city, and letting DS sleep on the way home in the car.

Those are my first thoughts... Hope you find things that are fun for you and for DS!

[mom.of.two]

I don't have too many suggestions for a small town, I live in a relatively big city. I did grow up in a small town though...so I can imagine your struggles.  My one suggestion that my friend who has 2 boys told me the other day is if you have a bunch of little toy tractors/wagons to fill them with popcorn kernels for him so scoop and pour etc.  Or you can fill a big plastic storage bin with dried beans and let him scoop and pour those.  Another activity could be to let him sit on the counter and "wash the dishes."  Kids around that age are big on sensory experiences.

I mainly just wanted to encourage you that are in one of the most "boring" stages of stay at home momness I would say from personal experience.  Having just once child who is awake most of the day and needs entertained/played with yet he can't really play all that well yet...that's rough and I remember the going out of my mind boringness of some of those winter days stuck inside.  It will get better as he gets older.  And hopefully it will get warm soon where ever you live and you can spend most of the day outside on bikes and having picnics etc.

[MandaSea]

thank you so much for your responses. I never thought of going to the library because ds is WILD! lol I say that with love, he's a really loud boy. Maybe they won't mind, it wont hurt to try though. I'm extremely excited that we will be buying him a swing set for his 2nd birthday next month. that will at least give him something to do in the backyard. Our budgeting is tight so the once a weekend or every other weekend 45 mile trip is pretty costly since we drive a big suv..that alone is 80 worth of gas. I would be in heaven if we lived there because that would mean beach all day every day haha. Im at least happy now that its warming up and we will be able to do that on the weekends. What types of educational items do you use or have?

[lisalu100]

You should check out some of the Montessori blogs too. There are so many toddler activities you can do together, and it might help you to think you are "homeschooling" your toddler, rather than just playing. This week I am going to make a laminated photo book (I bought a laminator for $18 at Costco), DD will start beading rings on a string, and we will probably cook in her learning tower. She just helped with the laundry too. It takes longer to do chores with her helping, but I have plenty of hours to use up in my day, and then I can use nap-time to chill out.

[ScottyG]

If your library has a dedicated kids' section, they are definitely used to loud kids.  My daughter's not particularly quiet!  And there are tons of fun things to do outside apart from swingsets...

Sprinklers

Easel, paper, paint

Flower / plant / bug ID

inflatable balls

sidewalk chalk

dance party (boombox or car stereo recommended)

...and so much more!  :)

[MandaSea]

lisalu: do you have any blogs that you prefer? DS likes to help with the laundry too. He's been doing it for a few months, it's so cute to see him shaking the clothes straight so I can fold them!

Scotty: We do the sprinkler/toddler pool, sidewalk chalk, playing catch with the dogs, looking at flowers and birds. His most favorite thing right now is the passing airplanes

[megannt]

One suggestions that I've heard. Fill up a tupperware container with little beans and rice. Supply different sized bowls, cups and spoons and let your little one spend time filling up and dumping the cups. It's the same thing you could do with water, but with beans/rice it's not a big wet mess. Just make sure you put something down if you have carpet because it's super hard to get out of the carpet.   Here is a good article about keeping toddlers entertained:

http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/toys-toddler/5-everyday-staples-for-a-winter-day-with-a-toddler-135939

[lisalu100]

http://www.blogs.com/topten/10-popular-montessori-living-blogs/

I really like Chasing Cheerios. I have a file foder, and I print ideas as I see them, and put then in a sleeve in the folder. When I am lacking inspiration, I go to the file folder during naptime, since the projects sometimes need 5-10 mins prep.

[MrsH]

I love all the ideas here.  One other things that I'm really learning to do, is to pursue some of my own hobbies even with my toddler (and other kids!) in tow.  My toddler will sometimes sit on the couch and "read" her books while I read mine.  Or she'll play with the trainset while I do organizing.  When I'm working on a craft project it's still a little tricky, but as long as I have enough materials to share she's happy.  I haven't yet tried to sew with her around, but intend to give her my button jar and perhaps scraps of fabric.  Same with gardening.  I'm really early in this process, but am working to reclaim some of my personality outside of mothering.  It's definitely helped me with the boredom. 

Oh one other thing is that we sometimes just go to a coffee shop.  I get her a snack and a bit of water.  We sit for a little bit.  Then she walks things to the trash (one at a time!), dances to the music for a little while, and will then settle in with a coloring book or lacing toy.  We can spend about 40 minutes there just chilling, and more if I'm meeting a friend.  It's been a wonderful way for me to get a little bit of grown-up time in in a way that feels good to both of us. 

Good luck! 

[onyxravnos]

i didn't read all the posts as my kids need to get to bed. but have you checked littleacornlearning.com ? it's the best toddler/kindy program out there for nature based creative crafts and songs/verses

[mommy212]

I know as I have gotten bored my cooking ha gotten more elaborate lol. I make a lot of stuff from scratch, but then I love cooking. I make bread, pasta, vegetables from scratch ( I used to use a lot of frozen ones)  and generally more elaborate food. When I lived in a small town (up until three months ago) I made a point to do one thing a day outside the house, something small, like go to the local (amazing!) bakery and get a treat, walk around the park or visit the library. I took a lot of walks too. We also used to spend a lot of time in our yard, playing with sticks, gathering acorns to make acorn flour (a pain in the butt but a lot of fun! this would probably be really fun if you had slightly older kids who enjoyed it) or airing out his bum :)

[smilingsara]

I nanny, and it was a hard adjustment. We have 3 days a week with no car seats for the babies, so we're home. We hang out in the morning. After we do an activity, we play more, and then do another fun activity.

When I see them getting stir crazy, I ask the baby to go get everyone's shoes, and we go for a walk.

We like to do marble painting (roll a marble in paint on a cookie sheet with paper on the bottom of it), we love bubbles and getting all soapy.

They enjoy 'washing' the dishes and playing in the kitchen sink, we bake at least once a week.

Coloring eggs, or really putting food coloring in any food makes for fun times.

Checking out craft books or game books at the library is fun to do.

Maybe go to a thirft store and get your little guy some stuff to play dress up with, that might be way fun.

Build a sand box (you can do that for fairly cheap). 

Side walk chalk is super fun. Teach him hop scotch. Trace his body and have him color it in. 

Let him play photographer one day (give him a camera or your phones camera to take pictures with on a walk or at the store). 

Hope that helps some!