Kids & Company Blog

Keeping the Kiddos Entertained this Summer

It’s been about a month since we welcomed our newest addition, a little girl, to our family. She’s undoubtedly one of the most adorable blue eyed babies we’ve ever seen. In terms of labor and delivery stories, it was as good as you could hope for. Everyone happy, healthy and in love.

When we arrived home we realized how different our lives had become. We now had a 18 month old and a newborn in Chicago summer. As you might expect, when you live in a place with long, cold winters – the warm seasons are that much more important. After my son’s first winter being referred to as the “worst in four decades” and “the polar vortex” I understood his expectation to get out and play now that summer had arrived.

I’ll be honest, I set my standards of “playful motherhood” pretty high. If I’m home with the kiddos on the weekends I make sure we do art projects, cook together, do science experiments etc. Why? Cause I don’t know how to sit still and I like harnessing my energy into things I love.

Here are a few tips I’ve found to be helpful along my journey the past few weeks.  Enjoy!

- The Moby Wrap makes many things possible

- Set realistic goals for yourself and consider consolidating. For example, if I want to take my oldest to the park I try and time it right after a feeding with the newborn. She’ll sleep in the stroller during the walk and it allows me time to focus attention on my son.

- It’s not always “hands on”. What do I mean by that? Oh, remember when you were a kid and your parents told you to “go outside and play” and you survived all by yourself? It’s because your children are more capable then you give them credit for. So don’t be too hard on yourself if you’re just sitting and reading a book outside while they play. You’re important here, too ya know?

- MAKE THINGS! We buy some pretty ridiculous things to entertain our kids. I’m guilty of it, too. We went and got our toddler this fancy water pad with a slide and fountain features. It takes forever to set it up. Every time we do guess what he does? He picks up the hose we filled it up with and finds it about a thousand times more interesting then the water pad. So keep in mind things like Four Square, Hop Scotch, Jump Rope and Flash Light Tag are classics that don’t take a lot of money or time to prepare.

- Use your imagination and teach your children to do the same. With a newborn I’m constantly feeding her and not as mobile to participate with my son. So I’ve had to invent ways to engage with him while nursing. We make a tent/fort and sit underneath it. He plays with his toys while I sit and feed baby girl.

 

 

 

 

Jackie Kardesh lives in Chicago, IL with her husband Eric, son Landon and three dogs. She is the Director of Marketing and Operations for our U.S. branch with a passion for children’s health and wellness.

You can find her @jackiekardesh or jkardesh@kidsandcompany.com

Posted on: Tuesday July 15th, 2014

Posted by: Jackie Kardesh