Maybe "impossible" is too strong...but it's definitely becoming more and more difficult! So, dear blog-y friends, I need some tips on how to deal with a toddler while fixing the evening meal :)
Let me just start by saying that my child is great at playing by herself. She likes listen to music & dance while I'm doing chores here and there in the morning. She can sit and "read" herself books if I'm folding laundry. She loves to push her baby around in her stroller if I'm trying to dust in the living room. But as soon as I start dinner...all bets are off!
We have a cabinet that houses all of our tupperware that she can play with. She has free reign over all of the pots, pans & spoons. We have a farm animal toy on the fridge that makes cute noises and sings songs. And she even got her very own cooking set for Christmas! But do you know where she wants to be when I start for the recipe cards? Just guess :) Under my legs, like a cute little monkey. She doesn't necessarily want to be held, though she'll start whining if I don't acknowledge her presence. It makes it very difficult to move from the stove to the sink, and don't even get me started on what it takes to get her untangled for long enough for me to open the oven! It's crazy! And I'm not a gourmet cook or anything, the meals I make usually only take 15-20 from fridge to stove/oven. Maybe that's too much to ask of a 16 month old?! Poor Chris, we're going to have to start eating cereal every night :)
Any of you mommies out there have the same issue? I'd love to hear your tips & tricks to alleviate some of the mealtime stress. You guys always have the best ideas :)
10 comments:
We have the same problem here if I don't plan ahead. I try to prep stuff as much as I can ahead of time and take advantage of times when Audrey is sleeping or playing happily to slip away to cook. I love the blog http://stolenmomentscooking.com. She has some great recipes that are all broken down into steps that can be done one or two at a time so you don't need to be in the kitchen for more than a couple minutes here and there. The other thing is that a lot of recipes can be prepped during nap time and then either put in the crock pot or the fridge until you are ready to cook them. Other strategies I use are to put Audrey in her high chair with a snack so she can watch, but not "help" or just letting her "help". Normally this means standing on the stool next to me at the counter playing with a toy or snacking while I rush madly to get stuff prepped before she gets bored...I'm interested to hear what other people suggest because even with this I wind up ordering pizza more than I'd like.
I think it is more the hour of the day b/c 5:00-6:00 is my kids bad time of the day, so sometimes I will chop up or make what I'm going to put in dinner ahead of time in the fridge, but sometimes I just have to deal with some whines, otherwise all of the other things you mentioned I try to entertain them with. Coloring in their chair at the table sometimes works too. Hope you are doing well - when do you head this way?
This may sound like the lazy parent way to deal with it, but why don't you put on a show for a half hour for her to watch during that time? We don't let John watch much TV at all, except for Curious George on PBS at 5:30 each weeknight. And around Elli's age John started to watch Sesame Street. I don't know if you have DVR but you could record it and then play it during the dinner hour. We save our TV watching time for the dinner time.
Well, if she is anything like my two, this doesn't get any better for awhile. You either have to plan for a longer prep time or try and get her playing out of the kitchen. If she's developing normall, which it seems she is, I would not worry about trying the TV for that short amount of time, but it may or may not work.
Amy, We do TV during cooking time too! I don't know if I've told you, but Emme could be a serious couch potato if she wanted too. Maybe it's genetic? :) I try to limit her TV, but while I'm cooking, Fresh Beat Band on Nick Jr. for 30 minutes does the trick. We have all episodes on DVR since she absolutely loves this show. Good music and cool girls. Emme loves cool girls. Kiki! Now, this doesn't always work; she will work her way in between my legs too, but if I just put her back and maybe add the new trampoline; she is set. Or I set her up with an "appetizer" of whatever I have made so far if I am almost done.
We use colors/coloring books since we can strap Drew into his booster seat. If Bryan is home, Bryan will take him in his room with the door shut and play. Since Bryan is gone all day, Drew will play for HOURS with Bryan when he gets home from work. If we're having salad or fresh veggies, I usually cut a few of the veggies up for Drew and let him snack on those at the table or while watching TV. Hope you find something that works!
The strapping them in idea is a very good one. I forgot because I can't do that anymore, but I used to do that as well. Even gave her some cheerios or goldfish to snack on while she was coloring.
One word...Barney. Your problem will be solved instantly! :)
Okay girls...seriously! Y'all are awesome! Trying the TV thing (Fresh Beat Band is a new one...I forgot that you & Meg talked about that one, Erin!) and maybe some snacks while we're at it, too :) I like the high-chair thing as well...might really work since my meals really don't take much time at all. Thanks ladies, y'all rock!
I had somewhat of issue with each of them in a little different way. With Cara I just tried to put her in a chair with me and let her "help" me. With Syd, well you know Syd, so I confined her somehow...and usually with a movie :)
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