Today it has been a rough day. Toddler Spawn threw up twice – once in the kitchen and again on me and the kitchen. It was all breastmilk so I am not as phased as I would have been if it was noodles or meat. Blech.
So we spent the day together at home. (… because high 90s-F is way too hot to go out anyway.)
Five Activities for a Sick Toddler
1. TV. I’m not even going to pretend to be embarrassed. I had work to do and needed her to be a little distracted (aka. not stuck to my side). So we streamed Sesame Street and Signing Time. She was still recovering from throwing up, so she laid on the sofa and zonked out.
Sidenote: Did you know that the old episodes of Sesame Street are one hour and the new ones on HBO are a half-hour?
2. Coloring. We spent a lot of time just coloring. She would take one page, and I’d take the other. Then she’d see my progress and draw all over it. We have a couple of these cheapo coloring books from Target. We also have a plain notebook that we draw in. We’ve been practicing drawing circles.
3. We DUPLO’d and stacked blocks on top of blocks. Toddler Spawn has always liked to stack blocks. The DUPLOs are great because they’re bigger than the standard Lego. There’s no worry about eating them and choking. And they’re bright colors and we can try to match them by color.
I find the DUPLOs easier to avoid stepping on, too! LOL! (I dread the day the Legos will come out and I’ll step on some tiny brick.)
4. We created a mini garden! I ordered this mini garden kit a while ago and saved it for a “rainy day.” Guess today was the day! This company sells several different kits. I chose the one with veggies. The kit is super easy to set up. It comes with six envelopes of seeds and potting soil, and you use the egg carton as the garden!
5. We read books. Toddler Spawn and I read this book over and over. I think she may be ready for dance classes! She loves Bea at the Ballet. I’ve read that there is something comforting about repetition. We have regular sets of books that we read a lot. (How about you?)
We even found an old episode of Sesame Street when Big Bird learns ballet!
There you have it. That’s we did all day today!
What other activities can you add to the list for parents staying home with sick toddlers?
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