| top | leggings | boots | Quinn’s shirt |
Let me just start off by saying that everything on this list does not always happen every single day (misleading blog title I know). Some days we nail it and check off all the boxes and some day we aren’t even close. Nonetheless, the following 6 activities are things I feel are really important for us and I make a big effort to incorporate them into our daily routine.
Eat Together
Well, duh this is first on my list. It’s an important one to me for many reasons. We don’t sit down for family meals every night, that’s obviously the goal, but just not always practical with our schedule. I typically make Quinn and I the same thing for breakfast and lunch (when she’s not at school) and we sit down and eat together. This doesn’t always happen, but it’s my goal because I want her to have a positive and healthy relationship with food. As her primary role model it’s my job to help her build confidence with food and make eating a happy and enjoyable experience. I’ve written about my meal time struggles with her here, so it’s clearly not always butterflies and rainbows during meal times, but I keep trying 😉
Read
We’ve been reading to Quinn consistently before bed since she was about 2-3 months old as part of our bedtime routine. She now likes to read books before her nap and before bedtime…it’s a great stalling technique and I think she would have me read every book we own before going to bed, but we max out at 2-3 per night. I’ve also started letting her take a book to bed with her if she wants and she likes to lay and flip through it before falling asleep. I’ve “caught” her reading a book to one of her stuffed animals…pretty darn cute.
When she was younger we would go to our local library for story time and she now goes there with her class at school. If it’s a rainy day and we need an outing we will often go to the library and flip through books (ok she pulls all of them off the shelves and makes a total mess) but we pick out a handful of books to take home.
Play
We all have a “to do” list a mile long and it’s often really difficult to walk away from the dirty dishes and sit and play with your child. I’m guilty of this 100% (I need to clean, fold laundry, prep dinner, etc) but I’m really trying to make an effort to be more present with Quinn and dedicate certain parts of our day to one on one distractions free play. We have so much fun being silly together, dance parties, puzzles, coloring, blocks, bubbles, etc. It’s so good for both of us to have that time together.
Socialize
I often joke that Quinn and our dog Bailey are siblings because she bosses him around and gets frustrated with him as if he were an annoying little brother, but obviously it’s not the same ha! So, I make a big effort to keep Quinn socialized with kids her age. We are so lucky to have great friends in our neighborhood and we can often get together at the park or someone’s house for play dates.
I’ve also taken her to a weekly music/dance class since she was about 6 months old that she always enjoys and interacts with her other kids her age. She has been loving the social aspect of her little school and whenever I ask what she did at school she says “played with friends”. Sometimes her “socialization” for the day is an hour in the little daycare area while I take a barre class and that’s OK. It’s all helping her learn so many important skills.
Move
Toddlers have ENERGY if you didn’t notice 😉 We will go for nature walks around the neighborhood, ride her bike or throw the ball to Bailey at the park…anything to get her running and moving. On rainy days we try to find indoor play areas like a bounce house or our local zoo has a great kids indoor play area. I’ve even just let her run the aisles of Target on desperate rainy days! She eats better, sleeps better, and is overall just happier when she gets her wiggles out.
Let Her Help
This one can be hard because a toddler helping out means it’s going to get messy and/or take FOREVER. She loves helping me out around the house, so I give her little tasks. I let her help get clothes in and out of the laundry machine, throw wrappers in the trash, put socks/her laundry in the drawer, and lately I’m letting her help in the kitchen more. It makes it so much messier and she often wants to eat raw food (I don’t let her) but she enjoys it. She often wants to at least try what we’ve made, so it’s a great way to get her trying new foods.
I let her do the mixing, sprinkle in the spices, and dump in pre measured ingredients. It’s really fun seeing her become interested in helping out in the kitchen and I hope this is something we will continue to enjoy to do together as she gets older.
I would love to hear what are important things you do with your kiddos everyday?
xx,
Alix
