Keeping the Toddler Busy

Dinner preparation time is the hardest time of the day around here.  The kids are tired and hungry and my well of patience is dry.  Nathan (20 months) is especially whiny and clingy at this time and I need something to keep him off my leg while I'm trying to get dinner together.  Usually, he gets put in the pack 'n' play and I just have to ignore the screaming.  But sometimes I feel like being a better mom and I let him play with the pom-poms, measuring cups, spoons, and some pans right by me in the kitchen so I can keep an eye on him.  He loves it.  Sometimes the pom-poms are scattered everywhere and take a while to pick up, which is why he doesn't get to do this every day, and doing it every day would make it less exciting to him.  He loves scooping the pom-poms into the muffin tins and pouring them back into the bowl.  It gives me at least 30 free minutes to make dinner.

aren't those curls cute?
so sad I had to cut them

I remember when I just had one baby to occupy my time, and I got to spend many hours playing with my baby, and reading books to my baby, and sitting in the baby's room reading a book to myself while watching my baby play by herself on the floor. Those were the good old days.  These days I am way to distracted to watch my baby at all times, unfortunately, and all too often I realize too late that he has run off and is getting into mischief, such as:

drawing on the floor and walls

throwing things in the trash (toys, shoes, plates, etc  . . )

eating things out of the trash
(he enjoyed the coffee flavored chocolate I threw away)

playing the piano

stacking cans in the pantry

having a tea party with Maren's "American Girl" dolls

and many more prohibited activities (think climbing up on things too high and too precariously balanced for me to think of anything but getting him down safely, hence no pictures).  

I will miss having a baby/toddler around when he grows up, since he is my last baby, but I will not miss having to constantly keep an eye on him.