WHAM: What to Keep Your Child Busy?

When I started to work with my full time job, I have to manage everything from household chores to taking care of my toddler. Everyone of us doesn't always have a kick start on our days. We sometimes have a bad timing, a cranky child who doesn't want to be put down, a computer that doesn't cooperate or an intermittent internet connection. We all have our fair share of bad and good days and as a work-at-home mom we should instantly come up with something to make everything work or just leave those things alone and enjoy the rest of the day depending on how we deal with it.


The road to entertaining our child is rough (of parenting generally but it's fun). I don't have a helper at home, so I established my regular schedule. But each day everything wouldn't go as planned. I was not expecting it to be smooth as either. Here are some of my techniques on how to keep Gaby busy during the day. Btw, my daughter is 2 years old, so she's not allowed to go out and play alone.

P.S. Prepare a series of different activities everyday to make them occupied.

1. Nursery Rhyme Videos - I noticed that my child really learns a lot from watching videos. Not just she learns to count from 1 to 10 but she already knows how to sing the ABC's song at her age. Don't forget that watching videos needs supervision, so check them often. 
2. Invite playmates - I don't usually invite playmates but we have a lot of children in our neighborhood. So it's no longer new to me when a group of kids would knock at our door and wants to play with Gaby. This is her most fun time aside from going out for a walk or sightseeing. 
3. Prepare her special toys - Before I start to work I usually prepare her toys which means so much to her. 
4. Doodling and coloring - Doodling and book coloring isn't just fun but it exercises our child's motor skills. So pen and crayons are usually Gaby's favorite. 
5. Healthy fun snacks - I admit that I sometimes bribe my child with those sweets, like m&m's or Nips (similar to m&m's), and lollipop just to make her quite during my super hectic hours. Like when I need to make phone calls but she's already throwing up.  I usually prepare her slices of apples, crackers, bananas and skimmed milk. 
6. Colorful books - I sometimes give her colorful books with cartoon characters she can recognize.