How come there is not enough time to do the activities I want? I am already full-time with the boys and they are not schooling (except 3 hours a week for Jiale), we are practically glued together.. why still short of time??
Not too long, I had a routine going which sorta included most of the things which I would like to do with/for the boys - sensory/messy play, outdoor play, music & dance, independent play, homelearning activities. But Jiale's nap timing became unpredictable for a couple of weeks and, I must admit, I was sick of going to the neighbourhood playgrounds. When Jiale's naps got back on track, Jiahe started to have super long morning naps (3-4 hours!), which meant that he would either go for his afternoon nap very late, or he would skip that nap and go for early bedtime instead. Either way, it meant we would not be able to go out after Jiale's nap. So, that routine was put aside, though it was not a conscious decision.
Then, I was very slack for another few weeks. Did not bring the boys to the neighbourhood playgrounds at all, though we still had quite a few fun outdoor trips. The other afternoons, I either 'exploited' Jiale's newfound obedience and brought them shopping/on errands, or we just bummed around at home.
But now, I have a new mission. I would like to let the boys have at least 3 hours of outdoor play a day. I believe it is especially important now for Jiahe, as he started to walk more recently and I want to train his walking/running/climbing/breaking-fall abilities.
Other than making myself get off my butt, it seems to be Mission Impossible to find THREE hours in our daily routine. It is only Day 2 of the new challenge I set for myself, and I am already quite stressed, my brain always thinking about when to bring them out. Not an easy task cos they have to be fed and well-rested before we go out, and we have to come back before they get hungry or tired again.
Firstly there would be almost no time for homelearning activities. I try my best not to disrupt him when he is doing something, e.g. engrossed in his trains. The most I will do is to sit near the homelearning corner and hope that he will come over and his interest will be aroused. But often, he is too busy with his own playing to notice what I am doing :p And the less time we spend at home, the lower the chances of him being 'lured' to what I want to do with him. But this is not too bad, it is not a difficult decision to forsake our homelearning activities in exchange of outdoor play.
Secondly we have other commitments in our schedule. For example, we have to do grocery shopping tomorrow, so that limits the amount of time we have in the afternoon for playground. Then on Thursday, the neighbour's boy has 'made an appointment' with us to come over and play. That means we will be staying at home the whole afternoon. Jiale will be in school on Thursday morning, so I guess I will fail the challenge for sure on that day. Only the 4th day!
Thirdly I realise I really hate going to the neighbourhood playgrounds. I don't know why. I was in a terrible mood this morning and was very short-tempered with the boys. After I settled Jiale for his nap, I thought about it and asked myself why the boys were so naughty this morning. Only then did I realise they were not particularly naughty... it was me having a very short fuse.. I apologised to Jiale but I also have to solve this problem for the long term. Pondered on it some more and found out I did not look forward to playground time at all. I dreaded it and was hoping it would rain :p But I did not have this feeling when I was bringing them to Changi Boardwalk or MacRitchie Reservoir! Thus I concluded that I prefer more adventurous outdoor activities, and new exciting destinations. The playgrounds downstairs are really too boring for me, even though the boys might be perfectly happy there.
I plan to bring the boys around Singapore for their outdoor time from now on. Hopefully this works out better so that we can enjoy our outdoor time together!
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