Sometimes, I wonder how I managed when I had just one child. She was, of course, a bundle of demands and energy. And I was eager to play, too. We built forts and ran our fingers through cornstarch pretending it was sand. These days -- with three times the kids and a job and a house -- I too often need to say, "Mommy can't play now." There's more laundry, more cleaning, more dinner prep to be done.


I try to carve out down-on-the-floor time...but it's not as often nor for as long as I was once able to do. Thankfully, though, the time I invested with number one is trickling down as she and her brothers rehash all those games and activities I shared with my first born.

My other two are still young themselves, but there are many ways that they can be teachers for their little brother.

1. Read together: At 2 years old, Little Guy is a book addict. He has to be if he wants to be like his bigger siblings who always have a book in hand. My 5 year old is just starting to read and he loves to practice on his little brother. It's adorable. Better than that, though, my oldest has asked to take over bedtime reading duties with Little Guy. She pulls one of his favorite bedtime stories off the shelf and they cuddle while she reads to him before I come in to say good night. Mommy gets to wash the dishes and all the wee ones are happy.
2. Explore electronic learning tools: I have no patience for the beeping gadgets that my kids love. I think the Leapster and Vtech's V.Reader Interactive E-Reading System are good tools, though. I don't expect a 2 year old to learn to read from a gizmo, but I do think that tools like these give him some independence and a chance to learn new vocabulary words. Luckily, Big Brother is happy to share his e-readers and games with Little Guy and the two of them can bond while mommy catches up on business emails.

1. Cooperate on a puzzle: Puzzles are big in my house. We work on them as a family and the kids have a draw full of jigsaw puzzles they can do on their own. Working together on puzzles is one of the (very) few play activities that never seems to devolve into a quarrel.
2. Get crafty: If I feel bad about one thing, it's that I don't spend very much time cutting and painting, pasting and coloring with Little Guy. The complete and honest truth is -- art projects with toddlers are exhausting. Again, brother and sister come to the rescue. Big sister spent a day creating swords and shields out of cardboard while big brother introduced his toddler sibling to the wonders of finger painting -- which inevitably turns into self painting. Sigh. At least I have practice on how to get kids from the messy mat to the bath without dripping paint throughout the house.
3. Play with Playdough: I actually do love to play with playdough. It's just that I also love to eat a home cooked meal and have clean clothes. So the playdought comes out when mom really, really needs some time to get things done since playdough is one of those activities that toddlers can get truly wrapped up in and spend an hour or longer exploring their own imagination. But without supervision, playdough can be hard to manage and dangerous. The solution: recruit an older, responsible sibling who can take charge and keep an eye out for things like eating the playdough or stomping it into the rug -- and I bet she'll have fun with it too.