A plan, a project, and a picnic

The last few weeks, or probably months, have been a struggle around here. Emotionally difficult from all that has happened recently, plus physically difficult from pregnancy-related things. Throw in a strong-willed, super active, 2-year-old, and let's just say I have not been at my best. Not even close. Which has made me feel regretful and guilty. Childhood is so short and a lot of days I am just trying to get through, hour by hour, until bedtime. I want Carver to have a magical childhood. I can't shield him from the world forever, but I want to give him all that I can for these few years while I can control many aspects of his world. Despite my best efforts, I know we will still have a lot of bad days, it is the nature of life. But, if I can just keep his bad days at a minimum then I will have done my job.

My plan, for now, is to try to be more intentional with my parenting. This involves a lot of things, like being more patient and kind, but also trying to make a real effort to plan activities, celebrate small things (like Valentine's Day), and in general, be purposeful in my approach to raising Carver (and soon his new baby brother). This probably won't be easy for me. I'm not particularly creative, I struggle with sitting for hours on end and playing with balls and cars and puzzles, I love to read books but sometimes get tired of reading the same book for the 800th time that day. But, I do like to plan things. I like to get an idea (usually stolen from someone else), make a list, set a date/time to do it and then make it happen. This is fun for me. And, to be honest, sometimes I just get bored. Which means Carver probably gets bored too. So we need a little fun in our lives.

The current plan is to do two projects or crafts a week. Not major productions, just things that are different from our normal days. Things that do not involve playing with the same toys we play with every day or watching kid shows. Something that I plan, prepare for, and experience just for him. These will, hopefully, work on days when weather doesn't let us play outside or head to the park.

While mom was here last week I started gathering supplies for this week's "projects." The website I am currently using for ideas and inspiration can be found here. (Thanks again to Pinterest!).

Project #1: Beans!

I chose this project for a couple of reasons. First, I am trying to do most on the list, and this was towards the top. Second, it sounded like something Carver would be amused by. And third, it called for cheap, reusable supplies.

I bought 6 bags of dried beans in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors and placed them into cheap plastic containers.


Then, I laid a blanket down in the kitchen, set out the beans, and a variety of other kitchen utensils. Bowls of differing materials (glass, plastic, etc), a small whisk, and different size measuring spoons and cups.


Carver sat in the middle and was able to use all of the utensils to play with the variety of beans. Which he seriously loved.


He started out being pretty focused and meticulous. Carefully spooning the beans into various bowls, etc.


Then he started dumping them into the larger containers.

And finally, as expected, dumped them ALL out on the blanket, sat on the mountain o' beans, kicked the beans, and threw handfuls of beans around the kitchen. These last things broke the one rule for the activity-- beans must stay on the blanket. But, after a couple of reminders, he did a pretty good job of keeping the beans on the blanket.



All in all I would say this activity was a big success. It entertained him for quite awhile. Worked on his fine motor skills by using the different size spoons to scoop, etc. (right, Ellen?), and it was nothing we had ever done before. Win win win.

And, we'll probably do this again and do a craft with the beans as well.

A couple of downsides:

1) The OCD in me really, really, hated seeing the beans get all mixed together.

2) I'll probably be finding beans in my kitchen for quite awhile. Though, really, clean-up took about 5 minutes total.

3) I did feel like I had to carefully supervise to make sure beans were not going into any orifice. But, he just needed a couple of reminders that the beans, in their current state, were not food.

One more project coming up this week. Hopefully it will be a success as well.

This week we have also enjoyed one picnic...in our living room. The plan was to have a picnic at the park. It was a cold, but sunny, day. I packed our lunch and headed to the park. Though when we got there hurricane force winds (ok, maybe not really "hurricane force") had transformed the park into a not-so-pleasant place. So, we headed back home and ate lunch on a blanket in the living room. Still fun, but not quite the same experience.