After Work Activities

Mama-guilt. It just keeps giving and giving, doesn't it!

We try to go for walks or bike rides (we have a burley that we love) as much as possible after work, if the weather is bad we sometimes play "marching band parade" around the house (which baby might find pretty funny), playing musical instruments and marching around.

To make yourself feel better, can you schedule a time, once a week or so, where it's just you and him? make a big deal out of it and call it "mommy and ______ morning" and make it a consistent time you can do something fun together. I work 4 days a week and have Mom&Mya day every Friday. I'm sure it is good for her, but I KNOW it is good for me... that MamaGuilt is a killer. I'm pregnant now, so I will be in your same situation soon....

Here are a few things we have found to do with our almost 4 year old, maybe some of these you can do while breastfeeding and/or cooking. Also, keep in mind that at daycare(?) he is playing with other kids the entire day, a little down time of playing by himself with his own toys (while you do busy work) might actually be welcome to him.

Family Time Fun Beginner Dinner Games
by FamilyTime Fun
http://www.amazon.com/Family-Fun-Beginner-Dinner-Games/dp...

ThinkFun Zingo
by Think Fun
http://www.amazon.com/Think-Fun-7700-ThinkFun-Zingo/dp/B0...

Orb Factory Magnetic Mosaics Kids
by Orb Factory
http://www.amazon.com/Orb-Factory-Magnetic-Mosaics-Kids/d...

Cranium Hullabaloo DVD Amazing Animal Adventure
by Cranium
http://www.amazon.com/Cranium-Hullabaloo-Amazing-Animal-A...

Richard Scarry Busy Town
by I Can Do That Games
http://www.amazon.com/Can-Do-That-Games-01017/dp/B002V3RC...

and don't forget PLAYDOH!

GOOD LUCK MAMA! don't let the guilt get you down.

Even though it doesn't feel like it, you guys are doing great. Letting him get involved in things that already are getting done, such as cooking is a terrific and probably the best idea. Singing with him, talking while other things are getting done (nursing). In just a few short months he'll be able to sit with you and help feed his sister solids. Then once she starts sitting up you'll all be able to play in the floor together. Don't be too hard on yourself, sounds like he's adjusting just fine and this is a short period of time.

The best times I spend with my son are the serendipitous ones! The times where we just park the car b/c we saw something cool to look at.
Or just load his bike, a bat, some balls, whatever in the car & head to the park! Take him to the swings, the slides, a bike lot, baseball field, soccer field, whatever! Even if it's only an hour, it will seem like a nice looooong time to him! Have fun!

My son is 4 1/2 and helps with almost every meal. I can almost always find a little task he can do. His favorites are helping with pizzas and making meatballs. I let him help roll the meat balls. We make them small and serve them over pasta with olives, cherry tomatoee, and basil (that he rips up for the meal) and mozzarella balls (that he gets to cut in half with a butter knife), My husband and son have a garden that they check on and work in after dinner. O love watching my son eat something he helped make. As for crafts, my son loves anything with scissors and glue, so we make a lot of collages. Making and playing with play dough are also big hits. We make it one day and play with it the next. Stickers are also a fave...he makes pictures and adds the stickers. He especially likes this because his 21 month old sister is "too little" for stickers just yet. :) Good luck and have fun!

oh you guys are doing such a GREAT job, and I see you are already giving him the attention he needs individually, since he loves his sister and is not acting out already. I cannot really think of anything you are not already doing.

Meals is mini pizza's my kids love making that.

Very sweet of you to think that way. I felt the same way for our son when our daughter was born. I do not work so I had a little more time, I got a babysitter so I could take him to lunch and a movie. I called it a 'mom and me date'. For you and after work you could make cookies together, go for a walk around the neighborhood, go for ice cream after dinner, play a game, put your bathing suit on and get in the bathtub with him and tons of bubbles, take a few hours on Sat and get a sitter for the little one and you and daddy take him to lunch at his favorite restaurant and a movie, take him to the toy store and let him pick out a book or toy or game then play it with him, take him to dinner, make breakfast for dinner and let him help, let him decorate brownies or cookies, snuggle with him at bedtime and just talk...my son loves this! We just snuggle and love and talk. I sing to him and just hold him. he is 7 and he still loves this! Good for you, they grow up WAY too fast.

Little ones can save you lots of time and steps. Have him be your 'helper/go-fer' while you're caring for her and getting supper. Maybe even pay him a little for certain chores or give him an allowance, and helping him learn to manage it can provide even MORE productive, quality 'together-time'!

Also if you'd learn (by searching online information) his temperament (personality type or blend of: sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric, melancholy, supine) and his love language[s] (gifts, quality time, words of affirmation, acts of service, physical touch) and treating him accordingly will be a lot more than most parents do for their kids and will have lasting results.