Purposeful Play
Guilty Pleasures to Indulge In When the Kids Are At School or Asleep
There’s no woman in this parenting world that doesn’t dream of having some time to indulge in some guilty pleasures of her own choice. It’s a necessity for every woman to put her own needs first from time to time and do some of the things other people find stupid or not cool or forbidden. And, she is right. She has the right to have a personal space and enjoy it as it suits her.
“Forbidden” Foods
Today, every woman will look at you with disguise if she saw you eating a hamburger or chocolate. Exercising and eating healthy is trending, so junk food has become forbidden for the society. Well, if you’re on one of those days and you crave pizza, just go for it! A slice or two (or three) will do no harm in the long run, and you know you desperately need it right now.
Bad Habits
Drinking a glass of wine or smoking a cigarette or two on a highly stressful day is no sin. We all need some sort of escape from everyday life and we all do it differently.
Or, some like to watch their favourite NFL team and in the meantime place a wager that the team will win (this season the New England Patriots are favourites to win the Super Bowl, source of the odds: redbet) or stop by the casino for a round of roulette. No one should blame you if you’re one of those people… Of course, as long as you do it moderately, once in a blue moon.
Enjoy Dumb Stuff
Non-intellectual TV and magazines describing the “real” life of celebrities is something you would never watch or read. But, at times, you want to sneak a peek while you’re resting at home. Sometimes you just want to play dumb and not think about anything too smart. Trash magazines are a great idea for that. We are pro-education, but come on… You don’t really want to be preached and smart all the time, right?
On that note, you could also indulge in a very stupid, naïve, unbearable-to-watch romantic comedy. Oh, yeah. Those are the best ones. You turn on the TV and you can immediately recognize its quality. But you still watch it. You know you do.
Out and About
Probably one of the greatest stereotypes about women is that we want to spend money and talk trash about other (close) women. Eh, sometimes we do confirm that stereotype. As soon as a woman walks through the front door, she starts thinking where to go or what to do to spend money. And as soon as she meets her bestie, they start talking. That talk is not for everyone’s ears.
And sometimes, you want to do it all at once. The best spent Saturday is: going shopping, then having a brunch with your gal and talking trash about some other women you two know not as well as you sound too. Now that’s what we call quality time, right?
It’s Monday!! You know what that means…it’s time for another Think Outside the Toy Box Summer Series challenge! This week…Kool-Aid. Last week, I thought I hit the bottom of the barrel as far as low cost, spending less than $6 on an afternoon of family fun with Paper Bag Maracas, but I blew it out of the water this week! Kool-Aid was on sale at Target for $2. I already had the rest of my supplies, so $2 and we were ready to go! Time to get messy and creative with Kool-Aid Sprinkle Art.
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When J’s teacher told me he really enjoys math and that sorting toys would be a great idea for Christmas, I ran straight over to Amazon Prime and began the hunt for the perfect toy. I bought about a million puzzles, little projects and a whole slew of other games. But none so far can compare to these bad boys:
Before I get started, here is my only CON for this toy. These bears are a relatively good size and really hard, so they don’t scream “Put me in your mouth!” But, as all mothers know, this means nada. So…while they are awesome, this is a toy that requires some observation on the parent’s part. This is not the toy to busy your kid with while you hop in the shower or run the vacuum.
Now, the good stuff.
The opportunities are endless for free play with these little dudes. Here are the 10 sorting games I play with the boys (and they then play with each other – which is super cute):
1. What color is this? I have them identify the color and then place the bear in its matching cup.
2. Here are 3 bears (different colors). I have them identify each color and count them back to me as they place it in its matching cup.
3. Pick a “red” bear and give it to Mommy. I line up all of the bears (or even dump them in a big pile) and give them a color to pick out and give to me. This can be taken up a notch for more advanced kiddos, by asking them to give you a certain number of bears of certain colors.
4. Count our colors. We separate the bears into piles of their colors and then count them together back into the cups.
5. Clean up the bears. Seriously, they love this one. It’s like 52 pick up with animals instead of cards.
6. Line up your colors. Everybody loves to build a mini army of color-coordinated bear squadrons.
7. Stack and unstack the cups. Tower! When the bears get old, I swap to the cups. Some simple towers always bring a smile.
8. Flip cups – Bears on top. Instead of lining up the bears or grouping them in piles, we switch it up by using the upside down cups as platforms for whatever game we are playing.
9. Color patterns – What’s next? I set up simple patterns and ask them to pick the bear that fits next.
10. Give me “7” bears and count. I give them a number of bears that I want and they get to pick what colors they give back to get to that number.
One final twist that they love…turn the tables! They’re in control and get to ask me the questions. They LOVE to ask “Mommy, what’s this?” or order me to “give them a red bear.” Let them play teacher for a bit and you’ll keep them busy for hours!
