Part-time parent guilt: Activity Bags
I leave the house bleary eyed at 7:15am, then rush home at the end of the day, generally managing to get there about 15 minutes before Mr E and Mini-M and just about managing to get tea on the table as they are arriving home.
Mr E does nursery drop off and pick up, and Mini-M also has two Daddy days each week, when they hit playgroup, the swimming pool, the park, the home brew shop and other places of small person / Dad entertainment.
It's probably not exactly how we might have imagined things working out, but it does seem to do just that - work. However that doesn't stop me feeling just a little bit guilty sometimes - I think there's always something that Mums feel guilty about: it's part of the job description.
Knowing that I feel guilty about being at work, whilst he is honing his toddler negotiating skills, after a day of nap refusal and tantrums is probably little comfort for Mr E however, so I thought I'd use an afternoon off a few weeks back to put together some activity bags which might be a little bit more helpful!
After a mammoth Google/Pinterest bashing session, I came up with a series of easy and cheap activities that mainly comprised of materials we had already kicking around the house, or were easy to get hold of, and grouped them into bags, which I labelled and sealed with tape, to prevent little fingers doing unsupervised investigating:
- Googley Eyed Ghosties
- Gumdrop Construction
- Butterfly Snack Bags
- Neon Stained Glass
- Tape Resist Painting
- Masking Tape Race Track
- Insect Fossil Biscuits
- Paper Button Flowers
This post is therefore as much for Mr E as a reference than anything else - since I didn't actually include any instructions.... (!) Here's the end point of each bag.
Crafting with Kids: Mother's Day Art at Multiples and More
DIY Paper Tape Roads at Tinkerlab
And as for the neon stained glass - you're on your own Mr E - but it's all in the bag...
In fact, several of the activities have already been tackled my Mr E, Mini-M and myself in various combinations - I'll post some photos soon of how we got on.
