Many days, Miss G wakes up from her nap (though it escaped us again today) with a clear plan for our afternoon. Today’s request involved building an indoor tent. No big deal, right? With limited space, a non-existent wood stash to build a frame with, and an un-napped, slightly impatient toddler on my hands, I opted for the simplest option possible… An under the table fort. Close enough, right? ☺
While a basic rectangular table with four corner legs would have probably lent itself more graciously to the project, our centre stand table provided an unexpected perk – two separate rooms. As soon as I mentioned this to Grae, she immediately deemed one of them a reading room and the other a music room.
Setting up our fort couldn’t have been easier. We simply moved the chairs into the kitchen, threw a king-sized sheet on top, and moved in a few pillows and blankets to give it a cozy feel. In the reading room, we added a couple stacks of small books, and in the music room, we added a xylophone, a microphone, and Grae’s ‘DJ headphones’ (actually noise-cancelling headphones from when we went to the Patriots game). It could have been more simple to set up, but G was pleased as punch with her new hideout. It was the perfect project for an afternoon like today’s, and we’ll definitely be remembering this for our next string of rainy days.
♥
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With Brad away at a basketball tournament {with our vehicle} all day today, I decided it would be a great excuse to have a low-key day around home, just my munchkin and I. And what’s better than a fort, heaps of pillows, games, and great books to fill a Saturday?
Chez Gracen.
Magnetic flowers and sunshines.
Hello Kitty, the only merchandised toy allowed in our house.
One of my priorities as a stay-at-home mama is making the very most of my time with Gracen. Now, I don’t necessarily mean that we’re always on elaborate outings and doing involved, pre-planned projects… I just mean that during her awake time, I try my very best to spend my time with her. For me, that’s the reason I’m at home right now. Her. So things like blogging, reading and returning emails, checking Faceboook / Twitter / Pinterest, doing major housecleaning, working on Littlest Lulu orders, and making phone calls wait until she’s in bed for the night or get done during her nap times (as much as humanly possible, at least). While she’s awake, my goal is to be actively present. Sometimes we do pre-planned activities or go on elaborate adventures, and sometimes we do low-key things around our house, yard, and neighbourhood… We read stories, do puzzles, play games, explore our backyard, do art projects, visit libraries, go to the pool, visit places around the city, have play dates, go for walks, and check out playgrounds. But as much as possible, we spend time together. Of course, there are things that just need to get done – shopping for groceries, doing errands, washing dishes, and cooking for example. Although Grae often helps me cook and do dishes, she’s very good about playing independently during these times too, which, in my opinion, is an important skill for all kids to have.
Anyways, late last night we found out we’d be having some visitors this afternoon, which was great. But when I woke up and took a look around my house only to find that it was a DIS.AS.TER, I realized that there was simply not enough time to make the house presentable and shower and get myself ready for the day during Grae’s noonish nap. (Side note: How does this happen?! I think we’re relatively tidy people and I’m the clean-as-you-go type, yet every now and then, I find myself amidst a MESS! I know that some moms would say ‘Who cares about what the house looks like when you have guests over – you’re a busy mom of a toddler!’ and I’m working on getting {closer} to that point, but I’m just not there yet…) Knowing that I’d have to spend part of my day doing things I’d normally do while Miss G slept, I decided that we’d put together something fun to keep her happy and engaged while I zoomed around the house tucking things away, sweeping floors, and tackling dust bunnies.
With the help of a blanket, a flat sheet, a handful of clothespins, and a few strips of duct tape (because what isn’t duct tape good for, really?), we whipped up a little bedroom fort, fit for a queen.
Once we had it set up, we collected a few things from around the house to ‘furnish’ it with… Throw cushions, a tea set, mini books, the Hello Kitty family, and some drawing goodies all found a home in Grae’s fort.
We played together for a little while, and then I got busy cleaning while Grae enjoyed her new space. While it wasn’t the perfect solution, it certainly helped. I got what I needed to get done done, she had a fun morning despite the fact that Mama was a little less present than usual, and we had a great afternoon visit with our guests.
It’s amazing what a sheet-turned-canopy can do, isn’t it?