Keeping down the crazies when you're cooped up inside!
All across the country, my mama friends and I are going crazy. Torrential rain, snow and sleet, cold temperatures, you name it: we are not getting out of the house and our kids are showing it! Our sweet little terrors are just that today, and while the lovely parenting moments are surely there, we are also faced with quite a lot of madness today. In an effort to fight the crazies, here's my game plan for days when you just can't escape.
1) Engage the senses
The best way to combat the crazies is to make sure your play and interaction involves as many senses as possible. Use senses in all you do. If it's quiet play or reading time, dim the lights a bit, keep things cosy, light a scented candle with a relaxing scent, or better yet, use some great calming essential oils in a diffuser. When you're doing upbeat and fun activies, put on some great upbeat music and brighten up the space! Keeping a variety of environments helps children transition, and it embraces their natural need for constant change of situation.
2) Sensory play
Along those same lines... try to come up with activities and fun that use your child's senses and full body. We love to play with a big exercise ball, and we let them roll around on that. My kids love to watch yoga videos on youtube, and they try to echo the poses. We love to have dance parties and shake our sillies out! But we don't just use our bodies... we also use our minds. We do creative activity - but while coloring is fun, using playdoh adds a new sensory element. We sometimes cook together, and the smells make things fun too! We do television once in a while in our family, so a great movie that is age appropriate can help too. Add variety to their activity and engage their minds, bodies, and souls!
3) Set expectations
I'm a fan of talking to our children with clear expectation and instruction when needed, and I feel that for everyone's sanity, this is one of those times. If you wake up and see that the day is going to be pretty bad, tell your children that today is a day that we must stay inside all day. Acknowledge that they will be antsy and want to run around but that we must all do our best to stay calm and to remain gentle while indoors. I sometimes create a phrase with my children that we say over to help register that conversation. I'll tell them that phrase throughout the day as a sweet reminder to help them refocus. I let them know that I understand that sometimes it's hard to stay calm when we just need to let off some energy but that we just cannot have everyone going crazy, so we all need to behave our best.
4) Keep engaged
Often times as a parent we need a little break and just want to let young children handle themselves for a while so we can fiddle on our phone, make breakfast, or sip a cup of tea. That may be good for your sanity but it can also open the door to crazy kids! Try to stay engaged, as much as you can, and if you can, invite your children to enjoy a juice while you sip your tea, and allow them to cook breakfast with you if they are old enough.
5) Make exceptions
As always, there are times when you need to just go with the flow. If its one of those days when you just need to let the tv handle a few hours, or if its one of those days when you just HAVE to bundle up the kids and release them to the outdoors... that's ok too. :)
I let my older daughter go out with her grandfather today to refill the birdfeeders. It's horribly cold and there is freezing rain coming down, but she loved her 5 minute escapade and it really helped break up the monotony of the day.
What sort of things do you do to keep kids happy and content on a crazy, indoor day?
