I'm struggling to find group activities that work for us.
I have found a few things here and there, but nothing that I would do for very long. Talking with dh today, I realized I often prefer being inside with dd because she can crawl / walk where ever she wants to. Outside, it's another story. I have to intervene when she crawls towards a street, when we wait for the bus/train. I don't know what to do to keep myself busy. At playgrounds or the riverside, I mostly sit and watch, until after 60mins or so dd usually loses interest in exploring her surroundings and comes to sit on my lap.
Before I had dd, I would ...
~ ride my bike to work (sedentary office job) and back from Monday to Friday, around 45 mins in total
~ do 1:15h of yoga on Mondays
~ do 1:15h of oriental dance on Thursdays and often on Tuesdays/Wednesdays too
~ walk everywhere
~ spend the weekends doing chores and watching tv with dh
~ spend lots of time at home on my laptop
Looking at what we do now ...
~ we still walk to a lot to places we need to go
~ use public transport several times a week (I have to keep her on her seat)
~ meet-up with our playgroup or have people coming over around 3-5x a week (it's often boring for dd to have people coming over, and child-centered, playgroup is much better)
~ go to playgrounds (I sometimes have to keep her from crawling towards some children, so I mostly avoid playgrounds)
~ power walking with dd sometimes, I would like to make that a (daily?) habit, to replace the 45 bike ride
~ laptop time is when dd naps
~ we do chores together whenever we can, and dd helps or plays with whatever we are using
I feel like I need to do so much more to provide a stimulating environment for her. I have made big efforts in that arena, but very often felt like she was not really interested, or what we did did not match her needs (or mine).
A friend and I went hiking with the little ones, but it started to rain heavily and we had to hurry up to finish the hike. We did not place them down to play, and they cried in the carriers. It was adventurous and most entertaining for us, as being outside in the rain and making do can be really nice. For the children, I don't know. Do they like it? Not sure. My impression was that dd was quite restricted in her movements on that day.
On walks or power walks she often fusses in the wrap, so much that I take her out and let her play on the ground. Then again, this isn't how a power walk is supposed to happen, and I don't want to stand next to her in a random place and watch her play (which happened once - when I put her back in the wrap she kept on fussing. Phew!)
Dh and I came up with making food prep and eating more of an activity. Going to the health food store, buying food, preparing it. That could be something we spend more time on.
I don't want to create things we don't need. This could be something to keep in mind though (doing handicrafts maybe). Not sure it's interesting enough for me though. I have been sewing two ring slings but don't need to sew anything else at the moment. I started to look into juggling but lost interest.
I love decluttering and it was joyful for dd as well to play with whatever I moved around to see what we want to keep.
What else do you do with a 13months old that is interesting for yourself, and good for the lo to join in if she feels like it?
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