I don't really feel like posting, but I need to since its been too long. So here goes the random flow of my thoughts.
Its getting harder and harder to get housework done lately. Emmett is just all over the place and its getting so that I can't leave him alone in the living room for very long without him climbing on things he shouldn't. And I don't want him right with me when I'm using cleaning products and things like that. So, I just do a little bit every day and check on him a lot to make sure he's not scaling the walls. Since I went back to work part time in January I have even less time for housework during the week. At first it was kinda nice to be back at work, out among adults a few days a week. But that has worn off now, and I really wish I could just be home with him. I am especially starting to hate working on Saturday mornings. By the time I get home from work its 12:30 and Emmett naps from 1:00 to 3:00, and then the day is almost over already before we even get to do anything as a family. The weekends go by too fast and then its back to work, all week for Chris and just Monday and Tuesday for me. Ho hum.
Most of the time I think I do a pretty good job of enjoying my time with Emmett and just loving being a mom. But like a lot of moms sometimes I worry about things. Recently I have begun to worry that maybe I don't spend enough time actively teaching my child. Of course I provide him with educational toys and he watches a few educational kids TV shows each day. And he brings me books and climbs into my lap and we read A LOT. His vocabulary has literally exploded lately, to the point where Chris and I have started being more careful about what we say. But I'm just not sure I am finding the right balance between structured learning time and free play. I think free play is how most 18 month olds spend the majority of their day. And part of the time I work with him on his shape sorter and he even uses it correctly on his own sometimes, but mostly he just plays with the blocks and the bucket. And he has a farm animal puzzle that we work on sometimes, but mostly he just chews on the pieces. And a lot of his books are about colors and I try to work on that with him, but I wouldn't say he really knows any of his colors. He can say blue, but I'm not sure he recognizes the color. But to bring it all back to my original point, I'm not sure how to know what the right balance is between structured learning and learning through play. I have a Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education, which you would think would make me more likely to overdo the educational aspect of being mom. But a lot of days I'm not sure I'm doing enough active teaching. And since he doesn't go to daycare, he isn't getting any other structured education, its up to me, which is the way I want it.
On that note, I have considered possibly getting him involved in some kind of preschool or playgroup or something like that to get him around other kids his age. Our church has some kind of program like that and I've been meaning to find out more about it. I also belong to a mommies group that sometimes meets for playdates with our kids. It just seems like they don't have events often enough and when they do, they often don't fit in our schedule. Now that Emmett has given up his morning nap we have that morning time that we could use for preschool or playdates. I think for now I am going to focus more on making playdates with other kids his age. He's a little young for preschool and we can't afford to tak him anywhere like a daycare center that charges a fee. Unless I went to work while he was there. But then I'd barely break even. And I'd much rather be with him.
Tomorrow afternoon we are taking him bowling for the first time. My mommies group is going and kids can play free for the whole summer. So we'll see how he does. I'm mostly afraid he will just want to run all around the bowling alley and not stay anywhere near our lane. My child knows no boundaries. I will take pictures and fill you in later!
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