Is it wrong of me to keep my 2 year old home???

elisheva25

Mon, Mar 16 2015, 11:12 am

amother wrote:

OP (and everyone else who keeps 2-3 yr olds home with them) just curious - what do you do with your 2 year old all day?
I would love to do it as well, but I just know that my oldest child was soooo bored at home at 22 months. He would destroy the house. I would try to sit with him and play, but he just did not seem interested. I don't have any friends with toddlers in the area, so he also didn't have any playdates. He was so happy and calm since he starting play group (9 am - 1 pm) but I really would like to keep my 2nd child (who will be turning 2 soon BH) home, if possible.

Know that all kids are different . My oldest was like that . A tornado at home @ 24 mos. he is still a tornado @ 6 . He needs all his time occupied otherwise he is constantly bored . Even though I had a baby when he was 24 mos, I keept my oldest home till 2.5. My next 2 kids, are also boys, but more chilled out and were easier to keep home. The youngest of the 2, is still home with me . I make no special effort to play with him. He is a very chilled out kid.I plan on keeping him home till closer to 3 . What do I do all day? He is soooo delicious, I hug and kiss him all day:) in all seriousness our day goes something like this...I take him out in the morning with me to do carpool, than I eother take him to run some errands or we go straight home . At home he really plays by himself in the playroom or watches DVDs and follows me around the house when I clean;) I feed him lunch and put him for a nap. After nap we go pick up older kids. In the afternoon, my older kids and him play all together .

tova5

Mon, Mar 16 2015, 11:13 am

amother wrote:

I do lots of things,
first we have nice breakfast together, then
shopping - he helps unpackimg etc.
going to playground, to mother and toddler,
paynting, sticking, easy games
he watches me cooking, helps with washing emties the wash machine etc...
its loads of fun!

gp2.0

Mon, Mar 16 2015, 11:58 am

My 2 year old has a blast at home.

First, she eats healthier food than she would if she was going out, and she can nap whenever she likes.

She enjoys coloring, it's hit and miss, sometimes she colors on paper but if I take my eyes off her for a few minutes I can come back to colored walls and objects. The world is her easel!

She loves play doh, I got rid of it all recently because it got dried out and I didn't want it around before Pesach, but I'll be buying more after Pesach.

She unpacks the cabinets if I forget to lock them, opens up all the drawers and unpacks them. Taking all the sandwich bags out of the box is enormous fun.

If she happens to find my phone lying around, she knows exactly how to get to youtube and selects cartoon videos all on her own.

When I'm tired of following her around and cleaning up household items, I take out a box of dress up toys. She dresses up in a purse and hat and sunglasses and jewelry and goes off in her play car. Or a box of dolls and cars and a dollhouse. She loves zooming the cars around and making the dolls walk around and kisses them. Or a pretend tool set, she likes banging with the hammer and pretending to use the screwdriver.

Sometimes she pretend talks on the phone, takes shoes out of the closet and puts them on, strolls around with her toy stroller. Sometimes she pretend sweeps.

Sometimes she just wants to cuddle and we cuddle together while I work (or play lol) on the computer.

Then she climbs onto the table and proceeds to stack things or throw everything off it.

Sometimes she plays with the water in the sink.

Sometimes we sing songs together that have hand motions, like the wheels on the bus or if you're happy and you know it.

Sometimes I read books to her. Sometimes she "reads" them on her own.

I don't do laundry with her around because she unpacks it from the drawers as soon as I put it in. Same with many other chores. I threw out a piece of cardboard, she whined for it and then pretended she's spraying me with water (or sticking me with a needle, I'm not even sure, she pointed it at me and said "pssshhh" with a smirk on her face and was thrilled when I pretended to cry about it.)

She loves going out when I have errands and in nice weather we go to the park often and out on the porch where she can color with chalk and ride a bike.

There's some more stuff I'm forgetting, I'm sure, but this is the gist.

Not a bad life for a toddler, I think.

(Phew I'm glad I typed it out, recently I've been thinking that I'm a bad mother for not doing more organized activities with my toddler, but her day seems pretty well-rounded to me now...)

amother

Tue, Mar 17 2015, 2:11 am

amother wrote:

I'm this poster. Thank you for your responses!! You all gave me hope with my 2nd child. She is more calm and happy to be home (so far... she is still younger than 2), so I hope it'll stay this way. I love to be with my kids... I wish my oldest felt the same way, but he is who he is Smile

I sent my oldest to part time playgroup (2 days a week) at 22 months and he only went to full time playgroup at 2 years 7 months, but he needed the part time before because he was sooo unhappy at home (crying often, bored, needy for other children to play with, etc.)
I guess every child really is different...