My 5 Year Old at Home for Summer with Grandmother

I don't think this is a *grandma* issue -- it's a child care issue.
My mom is 74 and she watches my 8 yo son in the summer 2 days per week. She drives him to & from his summer rec activities, they go to the park & play baseball, toss the football in the yard, etc.
While more difficult, I'm sure to be so active with a 8 month old in tow, I'm sure she can get them to the park, out for a walk, etc?
Can you sign him up for some summer day camps? VBS's in your area?

my vacation rule: you have to go outside & do something before any electronics are turned on. My son's a teen...so he usually chooses to ride either his bike or his Vespa. He also has to walk the dogs each day.

& since he's camping so much with the Scouts this summer, he's decided to use the tent every night! Crazy, man, crazy.

Anyway, buy a cheap tent & let him have fun with it! At that age, my sons always had all of their stuff loaded into the tent....the Legos, books, toys, etc!

Enroll your son in a morning program through the parks department. Get him into a swim class at the Y three days a week or more. Look into what the city has to offer at reduced costs.
This will force your MIL to take him for the prescribed exercise. A gym class or a tumbling class will do as well. Find something to move her and him from the house.
Next take him outside to play ball as part of your evening routine. If its raining get a catch game that does not have a hard surface. If your husband is around get him to play ball with your son so the child has some exercise.
My friend's MIL cooked for them and although she had a restricted diet the MIL cooked old fashioned German fatty dinners for them every day.
My friend had to make a Monday meal on Sunday that met her requirements and point blank tell her MIL not to cook anything on Monday so her the woman brought heavy chocolate cakes on Monday.
Unless your husband wants to stand up to his mother about exercise you are not going to be able to enforce much.

totally normal. If you want to unglue him from TV you have to turn it off! Maybe you can help her plan some outings for your kids over the time she is watching them? How about organizing some crafts..

If it's hot out like it is here, set up a mini pool/sprinkler/play area in your backyard so she can sit outside with the baby and your son can play outside. Write a schedule for them which includes time outside and studies for school.

Updated

If it's hot out like it is here, set up a mini pool/sprinkler/play area in your backyard so she can sit outside with the baby and your son can play outside. Write a schedule for them which includes time outside and studies for school.

It isn't fair to expect your mother in law to watch an 8 month old and a 5 year old and expect her to take them outside. I am 61 years old. I have a granddaughter who is 1 year old. Taking care of her for a few hours wears me out. I am not overweight and out of shape. I walk 2 miles every day, but she just has more energy than I do. If you feel that your child is not getting the exercise he needs and is not spending enough time outside, put him in day care.

Time to set rules for the TV. We didn't have ours on at all yesterday, but with the kids' nap schedule, and library story hour, we didn't get much outside time until the evening either. (I'm a SAHM only in the summer because I teach). After library time, we had a lot of new books checked out, so that gave us plenty to do.

Set up a play-doh table or a craft table and have a chart showing how much other activity he has to do before he can watch one TV show.

Because Grandma must watch a baby as well, in order to make this work, there must be a lot of interesting indoor activities your son can do himself so she can take care of the baby.

I know you probably don't have a lot of time in the morning, but if you set up a kiddie pool in the backyard before you leave, with a lawn chair for Grandma, it might be easier to get them outside.

Keep turning the TV off and go outside with your boy! Ask your Mom to take BOTH kids outside during the day and get some sun, air, exercise and play.....It will be good for all of them.

Blessings...

I agree with many different of the opinions received. TV is ok in moderation, and the programs watched should be age specific. With that said...the situation is the age difference. Mother-in-law cannot be expected to take care of 8 month old and do "5" year old things at the same time. Your son needs to be enrolled in something maybe 3 days a week. I am 47 and take care of a 4 yr old girl (my 25 yr old son is living with his girlfriend and she has 4 yr old daughter). I have 15 and 16 yr old boys. So I decided this summer..it's not fair to my boys for my all of my time to be taken by her and is also not fair to her either, so I enrolled her into a christian based camp 3 days a week and some of the weeks I enrolled her all week and her Mom will we reponsible for drop off and pick up completely, so I don't have her. Her being with me is still the best option, but you need to compromise so your son gets the attention he needs.

Can you set up playdates? I didn't have any kids in my neighborhood to play with my 4 yr. old and she would get so bored, there's only so many activities I could do with her. I finally got in touch with some preschool classmates and started setting up playdates.

I know that may be a lot for your MIL BUT 5 yr. olds can usually play together with out much assistance. You could alternate homes. My 5 year old LOVES it, they just find things to do together including playing in the backyard.

Also, go to a teacher supply store or look around target, wal mart for teaching books for pre-k, kindergarten etc. There are fun learning activities in there. You could have him do so many pages a day when you are gone.

Buy age appropriate crafts for him from Michaels. A big sketch pad, washable paints, play doh. I am sure you have a lot of toys but unless you pull them out and put them on the kitchen table, sometimes they sit in drawers and collect dust. Maybe alternate different crafts every day.

Tell MIL that the TV is limited every day to a specific time. OR have your child pick 2 or 3 shows that he can watch and that's it.

Ask your MIL if she can go for a walk every day, maybe to a near by park OR she can drive the kids to a park.
Vacation bible schools are offered at most churches and usually are super CHEAP. Sign him up....even if it's not your church, sign up for several. If you can afford camp, do some camps.