What to Do When
Your Kids Are Home All Day

When parents decide to make the transition from two incomes to one, there are often some unintended side-effects! One of them occurs when your child - previously in daycare - also comes home. Suddenly confronted with a whole day to fill and a young preschooler to entertain, the task can seem daunting and expensive! Here are some quick ideas for finding frugal entertainment in a hurry.

• Visit your neighborhood pet store. It's like a mini-zoo in a mall! Gerbils, hamsters, fish and parakeets can entertain a little one for quite some time. For best results, make friends with the owner!
  
  
• Go to the mall - before it opens. Wear walking shoes and try to coax your little one to stay in his stroller while you get some exercise. Bring pennies to throw in the fountain, and breakfast to eat in the eatery.
  
  
• Search out all the McDonald's playplaces. Find outdoor ones for nice weather, indoor ones for yucky days! Bring friends along. While your kids play (with no toys to fight over - blessed relief!), you can visit and feel like an adult.
  
  
• Libraries are great resources. Ours offers story time (both with mom and independent), computer time, and classes like "Sing 'n Sign". Not to mention the books, of course.
  
  
• Churches often offer special programs for moms. Your child is in his or her own program, while you make friends with other women. Even if you are not a member of their church, most programs welcome community women with open arms.
  
  
• Exercise options for moms at home require a little creativity. With your child in the stroller you can rollerblade, run or walk. Put a seat on your bike and head for the neighborhood bagel store. Go to the park and use the play equipment to exercise on while your little one climbs and jumps, too.
  
  
• Babysit a little friend for a morning, then send yours to their house. Two moms find a little sanity!
  
  
• Have a craft day - crafts cause less stress if you bundle them on one single day. Put the kids in Daddy's old shirts for the day, lay down some newspaper, and don't worry about the mess. Invite one or two friends over (in conjunction with the previous idea!), and have fun. Make the last activity of the day shaving cream painting in the bath tub.
  
  
• Use the principle of toy rotation. Divide your child's toys in 3. Put two thirds of them away in cardboard boxes where they can't get them. Allow them to play with the last third. When you see their interest flagging in their present selection of toys, box them up and give them another third. This keeps those toys you've invested in new longer.

Finally, be aware that your child will be looking for consistency and routine -- hallmarks of daycare life. If you go to the park at the same time consistently, you'll begin to make friends with the others who do the same thing. And your child will come to rely on a new routine, which makes life easier for everyone!

Marla Saunders is the Editor of Homelight - A Newsletter Dedicated to Success at Home from a Biblical Perspective. Her advice is often applicable to frugal living and we're pleased to have the opportunity to share her ideas with you.

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