I am glad I chose to stay at home with my son, but it turned out to be a lot harder than I thought. I was semi-prepared for the lack of sleep and crazy onslaught of emotions. What I didn’t anticipate was how challenging it would be to find things to do all day. Luckily, we live in a great neighborhood, so I often simply strap Avi to my chest and roam the streets–doing errands, stopping for coffee, going to the park. And now that he’s eating solids, there’s breakfast, lunch and dinner to contend with. And of course, naps. Gotta love those naps (when he takes them). But that still leaves many hours in the day when we’re just hanging out at home. For some inspiration, I asked the ladies in my moms group to share an activity they love to do at home with their baby. My favorite thing to do with Avi? Play a version of hide-and-seek where I duck behind the couch and he crawls after me. It makes him scream with delight, and I’ll do anything to make him giggle.
One of my favorite things to do with Daniel is music and dance. Not baby music…my music! I pay Salsa and Merengue and dance with him in my arms. Or I put on hip hop and start jumping around and over him, which he thinks is a game to try to catch me. Or I play a folk song and sing moving his arms and legs as if he were performing the song. It’s fun, and it’s pretty good exercise too!
–Jessica Zayas, mom to Daniel, 9 months
I love beach ball play with my son. We lay on my bed looking at the ceiling and I throw the ball up and catch it above our heads. He thinks it’s great. Then I bounce it off his head and he laughs like crazy. I show him how to balance it up with his feet and hands (it’s so light but so big that he really gets a kick out of how strong he is). The very best thing with beach ball time is the tummy roll. I lay him on top of it (on his tummy), hold his legs and move him back and forth like he’s Superman. –Tami Mansfield, mom to Ryder Best McMeeken, 6.5 months%uFFFD
When I am in the kitchen cooking, Cole “helps” me. I get out a mesh strainer, small plastic spatula, plastic pitcher, measuring spoons and any other fun kitchen stuff I can find and he plays. He also likes to have the cupboard door open and explore the pots and pans and bang the door open and closed. Also, Cole loves to “recycle.” We keep our paper recycling in a Duane Reade bag on the kitchen floor and he crinkles the bag and explores all the cardboard tubes, boxes, magazines, etc. that are in there. He can have a field day with an old magazine! — Amity Spiegel, mom to Cole, 11 months
One thing I do is listen to music–not children’s music, but the music that I love. I play my favorite records and sing along to them as my daughter and I play on the floor or dance around the apartment. She smiles and laughs when she sees me dancing. I also show her the album covers and tell her about the musicians or tell her a story about when I first started listening to the band. It’s a great way to interact with your child and it entertains you as well. — Joanne Jones, mom to Zadie, 6 months
