What do you do with a toddler in the evenings?

[eleanorrigby1]

Thank you, I loved reading this reply, your life sounds very much like mine apart from we eat our dinner together at 5pm the three of us and so usually when baby goes to bed we have a cup of tea and some biccies he he!

 

I do enjoy my life very much most of the time, I guess sometimes I just miss the freedom of spontenaety. We have my brother inlaw and his fiance coming to babysit this saturday which i am very excited about as we are going out for a meal and it will be lovely!! the weekend after it is my partner's birthday and his mother is coming to babysit for a few hours in the evening so we can go out again for a meal, which will be lovely and the weekend after that the three of us, (Me, my partner and our daughter) are going to North Wales for the weekend, a little family holiday, which I can't wait for.

 

I guess, I am very happy with the domesticity of routine and family life, but I do worry about my partner sometimes as he is a few years younger than me (in his mid twenties ) and I think he misses being able to go out and have a drink and have a sleep in the following morning and just be free without 'routine' to go out whenever and wherever we want.

 

I spoke to him about my post on here and people's replies and he said that I had got it all wrong, that he was actually moaning about things to do in the evening WITH our child, before she goes to bed.. he said he was saying he was 'bored' and worried that our child was bored, with the same old, same old, eat dinner, play, bath, bed.. and he wanted to know what other families did in the evening with their children.

 

I think we have come to the conclusion that she is too young to do much with at the moment because we don't have much time, by the time we have finished dinner its 6pm and she goes to bed at 7pm.

 

thanks for your reply x

[eleanorrigby1]

What did you do on the evening you concieved the baby???

 

A little more of that, perhaps?

 

ha ha!! my partner had just got back from Switzerland with a pile of swiss choccie and we pigged out with a bottle of red wine and then ended up getting jiggy on the living room floor!! he he

 

I should send him away on business more often!

[FarthestEdge]

What about photography? You have a beautiful child already, and another on the way...why not get the camera out & get creative...And then you can go through the pictures together & decide which ones you like...blow up some black & whites, put together a scrapbook album...whatever...

 

Or learn about making your own wine at home?

 

Or build a recipe book together of quick/easy/cheap nutritious meals

 

Or plan out your dream home on graph paper. Make a scrapbook of furniture/flooring/electronics...whatever to 'fill' the dream home.

 

Or Invite friends in to play cards after the kids are in bed.

 

Read up on home-made craft activities you can do with you child. Put together a 'craft box'

 

I find that even working on things that make our lives more organized is to some extent enjoyable...when we do it together. I particularly enjoy DIY projects because it feels like we are literally, physically 'building' our future together. I also find that talking about our plans/dreams for the future fills me with optimism and gives me the patience that it will all come in time...

 

Anything can become 'interesting' if you approach it from the right angle..

[Batya33]

I understand. I think children that age - and older! - love routine but why not just change the things you play with at play time - I "rotate' his toys and I also show him odds and ends from around the house to play with - for example I took an empty plastic container and put one of his maracas toys in it so he can see the toy, shake the container, bang it around,etc. We give him lots of different kinds of paper - texture, color, shape - to play with, crinkle "file" into piles, etc. That's the variety, for now.

 

Sounds like things are going great!

[anya1607307555]

Again this must be an American thing? its not something I have ever heard of over here? (England).. seriously, I have asked around and EVERYONE I know that has children have parents living locally who dote on their grandchildren and WANT to babysit all the time.. my family and my partner's family are not like that ATALL!

 

If it is something you may be interested in in the future, you can advertise for babysitters/helpers at any college, university or even nursery. People on child studies related are always looking for experience and have the relevant knowledge and skills. There is also a general babysitting course available to teenagers for this purpose, which you could stipulate in your advert.

 

Just to let you know that there are options out there, I do understand your point about it being more common to use family for carers in the UK, but many parents choose outside agencies.