Cold Creativity

I just got in the house from rolling the garbage to the curb.  My once cleared driveway (thanks to the help of my toddler), is now covered with a mix of new snow, and blown snow.  The wind is starting to howl yet again, and I am about to lose my mind.  This winter is BRUTAL.  Vinnie and I stayed pretty much home-bound all weekend.  The one chance we took to venture outside was to get groceries, and it was so windy, miserable and cold to pack him and the groceries into the car after our shopping that I decided at that moment it was going to take an emergency to pull us out again this weekend.  We did end up venturing out, just for a short while to shovel the driveway (in an effort to save $25 on our "driveway guy"), and by the time we were finishing up the wind had blown most of our shoveled snow onto our clothes, or our "cleared" driveway.  So, what to do when you are housebound and alone with a 2 1/2 year old?  You get creative...

When the usual toys and routines were just not cutting it yesterday, I turned to Pinterest, found my "For my Vinnie" board and searched for ideas.  Once there I found this activity that I thought was a perfect opportunity to practice some fine motor, have some fun, and was sure to hold his attention for more than 10 minutes.  Gobs of play-doh were stuck to the table, and into those when several spaghetti noodles.  I only had Angel Hair, which was a wee-bit too fine for my Vinnie, but we made it work.  I gave him a bowl of cheerios and showed him how to carefully and slowly thread the cheerios onto the noodles.  Fun!  For about 5 minutes, before he discovered he could pull the noodles out of the play-doh, throw the cheerios on the table, and begin playing with the good stuff...the play-doh.  I was a little disappointed that he didn't really appreciate my efforts, but he was content for the next 45 minutes breaking the dough into small pieces, plopping them into the container, dumping them out, and starting over again.  It wasn't an aggressive exercise for his fine motor, but it kept him happy, and I got to unload the dishwasher and make preparations for the next meal.

Last night it was another "moomie night," which, thanks to this weather, and my single-mother status, has become our Saturday night ritual.  Our feature presentation happened to be, "The Croods," which we both actually enjoyed.  Well, Vinnie enjoyed the movie, I enjoyed the excuse to have my very busy and mobile toddler curled up with a fuzzy blanket and sprawled across my lap!

Today's adventures have included a trip outside to shovel the driveway, definitely a highlight, especially because of Vinnie's very own shovel.  We also played the Toy Story Memory game, which has been slightly modified by starting with all the cards turned over to make it a little easier for Vin.  This is a fun activity and holds Vinnie's attention for a good 45 minutes to an hour.  I have bounced between making meals, finishing laundry, and now my new "hobby", my job search.  I actually found a job today, so ALL of Vinnie's nap time was spent going through the online application, scanning necessary documents, hunting down necessary information, mathematically figuring out my "major GPA" from college (much more difficult than it should have been), and then showering, brushing my teeth and getting dressed in about 5 minutes before finally grabbing a chatty Vin from his crib.  I DO NOT know how I am going to manage to complete all my mommy and home responsibilities, work my full time job, search for my new job, AND show a house in the next few months.  I am hoping I grab a job early so that one part of the insane equation can be eliminated!

As the wind picks up and the temperatures drop, I anticipate the potential for another day at home tomorrow.  Better get back on Pinterest to get my creative juices flowing...