Entertain me!

My kids have entered a whole new phase. On the one hand, they’re a million times more fun than they were back in the dark days of 6-12 weeks. They interact, they smile, they laugh. They play with toys, they play with us. They think daddy is pretty funny. They think the dog is nothing short of hilarious. Sometimes they even find me amusing. But since I’m doing a one-woman show for the majority of our days, I’m feeling a bit of pressure to keep the hits coming. And the down side of this phase is the fact that they now seem to get bored. Oh dear.

Play groups help. Seeing other babies and other adults helps to amuse them, especially in those tricky late-afternoon hours. But outings are troublesome, especially in relation to the nap schedule. Going out before the morning nap, well that’s just not going to happen. I’m still in my PJs. Maybe, when it gets warmer, we’ll manage a short walk with the dog, but that’s it. In between the morning and afternoon nap is when we frequently have invitations to go somewhere, but it’s not always such a good thing. By the time they’re up from their nap, fed, packed in the car, and ready to go… it doesn’t leave a lot of time for much “playing.” And then, when we inevitably make a hasty exit due to tired meltdowns, they fall asleep in the car. Just long enough that, when they get home and wake up (as soon as I get them in the house, usually), they have no interest in “finishing” their early afternoon nap. And thus, the rest of our day is shot to hell, because their naps are all messed up and they’re tired. No, at this particular moment in their young lives, the ideal time for an outing seems to be about 3PM. Post-afternoon-nap, they’re fairly wide awake, but also likely to be nearing boredom. We go out, we are amused, and if they fall asleep in the car around 4:30PM, no problem. Just enough of a catnap to get them all the way to bedtime.

But still, I can only crash my friends’ houses so often. We need another kid-centered activity. And so, I’ve signed us up for two classes! This is at the same maternity center where I took my two new mom classes back in the fall. I felt a little burned out on them at the time, but I’m ready to have a regular outing at a baby-safe location. They both start in a few weeks.

The first class we’re doing is sort of a developmentally-centered playgroup/class. Babies in the class are about 6-8 months old (at the start of class), and there are age-appropriate activities like songs and parachutes, as well as some discussion with the facilitator and other moms about development (gross motor, language, etc.). It’s an hour long, and best of all, it’s at 3PM! It’s at a center slightly farther from my house, but I couldn’t pass up the time. All of the other classes were around noon or 1PM, which is just too much messing with the nap for me. Can’t wait.

And the second class, drumroll, is going to be all four of us. Yes, that’s right, M is actually going to come to a baby class. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great dad, very involved, loves the kids more than anything. But let’s just say that joining groups is not really his thing. A few weeks ago, I took a single-session workshop with a friend of mine on Infant Signing. I knew I wanted to use sign language with my kids, but this gave some good suggestions for how to do it. My interest was piqued, and M thought it sounded cool, too. Since I have no interest in going to the class by myself and then having to pass along second-hand info, we found a Saturday class, and we’re all going. 10 weeks of sign language! It’s done with a lot of songs and games and things for the babies. Ours will probably be among the youngest in the class, but I’m not too concerned. It’s just as much for me and M to learn as anything else. But I hope we all like it, and I hope the kids take to it…

And now, I must run. Playgroup this afternoon! Thank goodness.