What Does Your Toddler Do All Day?

As far as getting things done,my friend gave me a life saving suggestion, try to include my son in the work. I get sooo much more done. With his "help" it can be slow going, but it's a lot more productive than waiting for nap time. When cleaning the bathrooms I have him wipe down the front of the cabinets. He used to be happy with just a paper towel, but lately I have been giving him a baby wipe (he thinks it's the Chlorox wipes mommy uses). He helps with laundry by helping me carry and sort clothes. I bought him a kid sized broom and a vacuum to help sweep and vacuum (the vacuum was bought for $2 at Goodwill and has a sweeper on the bottom so it "really" picks up dirt). I bought him a duster and have him do the blinds while I dust the breakables. He has a step stool in the kitchen that's tall enough for him to help with dinner and dishes. Sometimes, if I can't include him in dinner prep, I will give him an egg to beat...that has been known to occupy him for a long time! :)

To stimulate learning and thinking I just try to include it in our everyday activities. We read A LOT! We count and talk about colors with many of our chores. Sing the AbC's. Talk about the letter sounds we hear. We go to Spouts and talk about the color of the fruits and veggies and then we weigh them to work on number recognition. I try to get him to problem solve on a toddler level, like today the trash was full and his wrapper kept falling on the floor - I had him figure out what we should do about it. And now that he's three, we have started talking about time . He doesn't get it, but I figure it doesn't hurt and it reinforces number recognition.

As far as how much time he spends alone to play, I had to sort of "teach" him that skill and we still have days where he wants mama the whole time. It took a while, but he will spend a few hours playing alone - I reorganized him room and made everything more accessible to him and that helped.

i had the same problem trying to find toys for 2yos. my little guy is exactly 2 and he loves to play with his wooden blocks and look at books on his own. other than that, i am his favorite activity. together we mostly talk, tickle, and act silly.

Since it's getting prettier outside, why don't you try sidewalk chalk, bubbles, a toddler basketball goal, or playdough. At that age, my little one loved to help me cook! I'd let her spread peanut butter, pour in the cheese for macaroni, etc. They are very interested in the "grown-up" world right now and pretend play, so you might plug into that.

My son loves his train set. He plays with that for hours every day. It is a Thomas set and he likes to recreate the stories with his engines. He also likes to play with cars and trucks. He looks at books quite a lot and we read stories and look at picture books every day. He got a kitchen for Christmas that he enjoys playing with that too, but not near as much as his trains and cars. I typically let him watch one entertainment DVD and sometimes one more educational DVD per day. He usually picks Thomas or the Wiggles. Then I let him pick a Preschool Prep DVD. When the weather is warm enough, he plays outside with the dogs and his swing set. He pushes his toy lawn mover around outside a lot too. He also loves to blow bubbles. We try to get out someplace every day, even if it is just the grocery store. He enjoys that - and loves Costco and Target! He loves dancing, and of course makes me dance with him. He adores music and likes to play "drums" and his xylophone. He goes to MDO 2 days a week. We try to fit in play dates once or twice a week. He likes to play chase with his friends. He isn't really into crafts or coloring at all. That's about it for us really.

turn off the television. play music. have plenty of books, building toys ie blocks, legos... might put him in a mothers day out program a couple of days a week. good luck.

8 am- breakfast followed by tv time
10 am- get dressed,then go to gym so I can work out while he plays in the Kids club,once a week at this time we have a kindermusic class
11 am-lunch(sometimes at home,sometimes sonic,dicky's or Mcdonalds)
12-2- naptime while i do some chores
2-tv time,play time with his toys,sometimes we do puzzles,flash cards,(almost all the tv he wathes are educational dvds)
3- walk the dog,go to park or playdate at little gym. if weather is not good we go to an indoor playground or story time at Barnes and Noble(or Borders or public library). during the summer, we'll go to the community outdoor pool or he'll play in the backyard with the dog
4- run errands like drop movies of at Blockbuster,go to grocery store,post office,etc
6 30- dinner. I take the entire two hours and half to run errands if dinner is in the crock pot, otherwise I'm home by 5:30 to cook it.
7:30 bedtime bath,tv time, story time
8:30- bedtime

then I do a couple more chores and RELAX. Altho, we have a maid who comes weekly,which helps ALOT with the amount of chores I do.

My DD is also 2 1/2 and she is a pretty independent player. She goes to her play room play with her toys and watch her Noggin or movies. i do things around the house if i can...she comes to me when she wants to play and i do what it is that she wants. Be it playing with playdoh, reading, playing with chalk, dancing, etc.

Sometimes we just sit and snuggle and chase eachother around the house. We try to attend playgroups, I take her to the zoo and parks to play. We also have a playset in our back yard for her to play on as well. If the weather is nice we go outide for a walk around the neighborhood.

A wide range of things...i try not to let my job as a SAHM interfer with the wants of my daughter.

I have also put her in a Mother's Day Out program at a church in North Richland Hills twice a week. She loves it!!!! Best choice i made for her...she learns, plays and comes home with home made art.

I suggest a MDO it allows her outside structure and you time to do your outside responsiblities such as oil changes and grociery shopping.

It sounds like you would really enjoy joining a mom's group. They have play groups, activities and outings to help fill the time. Try www.momsclub.org, www.mops.org, www.meetups.com,or www.dfwareamoms.com. There's also great classes toddlers can take like ASI Gymnastics, The Little Gym, Kindermusic, etc. Your city recreation department should also have several toddler classes to choose from.

I'm a work from home mom with a daughter who just turned 2 in January. I have a nanny come in 3 days a week but I'm very involved in how my little one is kept active during the day, and of course the weekends as well when I get to be a mom only!

My little one loves letters and numbers and inherited some great learning toys from her older sisters, such as the Leap Frog Phonics Desk and V-Tech Learning Laptop. We definitely spend time together with these toys, but she also likes to them on her own and I encourage independent learning. She also loves books so again we spend time reading together, but she truly enjoys sitting on her own and leafing through books (sometimes she even gets mad if we try reading to her!). For Christmas she got the Leap Frog ClickStart My First Computer (hooks up to the TV) which is really meant for 3 years and older so she isn't good with the keyboard/mouse actions so we do this with her (we operate the keyboard/mouse, but she has to point at the screen to identify the correct letters, shapes, numbers, colors, etc.). She also goes to a class once a week at The Little Gym and usually also goes to the library weekly for one of their age-appropriate reading groups. On nice days we're sure to get her outside, either in the backyard or take her to a park (this past weekend we biked over to a nearby park).

I get things done when she is in her "independent" mode and just wants to sit quietly looking at books or playing with her toys. I will also resort to a DVD (usually Sesame Street or Blue's Clues) now and again to allow me to get things done, but I restrict that to one hour maximum. I clean the house on Saturday mornings and during this time my husband is responsible for child entertainment and he usually takes her out while he's running a couple of errands and sometimes he'll take her to the Wiggle Play Place in Frisco.

Essentially, I get things done in between being a mom. And did I mention I have two older daughters, ages 14 and 9? So throw that in the mix and you'll know it's never easy to keep organized, get things done, and yet still be sure to be spending quality time with your children!