Saturday, November 19, 2011

Too Cold to Go Out

"Too wet to go out and too cold to play ball.  So we sat in the house.  We did nothing at all.  So all we could do was to Sit!  Sit!  Sit!  Sit!  And we did not like it.  Not one little bit."

Do you recognize those lines from Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat?  What a wonderful book.

We had a similar experience with the weather recently.  Too cold to go out, but there is a 5 year old who needs to be entertained...  Or else.  This particular 5 year old has gorgeous brown eyes, is very intelligent and is incredibly energetic.  He doesn't need a lot of sleep either.  Whew!  We have to be prepared for cold days with Mr. Big Stuff. 

Being outdoor types, we are pretty aware of weekend forecasts.  At the Herb Society meeting on Thursday, the  speaker had mentioned glycerin soap was a great project for kids.  Easy and quick for those with short attention spans.  So, on Friday I had picked up a soap making kit.  It came with a couple of different types of soap, two molds, one fragrance and some coloring.  I grabbed a second fragrance, just in case one wasn't enough. 

At about 5:45 am, Mr. Big Stuff was awake and ready to make soap.  So, that's where we started.  Soap making was surprisingly easy!  Melt the soap in the microwave, add fragrance and color, pour into a mold.  He liked it.  We melted, scented, colored and molded a second batch.  That was enough soap making.  He was bored with it.  When asked to take his bath though, Mr. Big Stuff grabbed one of the soaps we had made and went to the bathtub without arguing!  Hmmm...  without arguing. 

It was time for the library.  Hooray for public libraries!!  He chose three movies then skipped over to the computers.  Our library allows 20 minutes per person on the computers in the Children's Area.  Handsome Husband sat near Mr. Big Stuff while I chose a book for myself.  Then we swapped.  With books for both grown ups, we read and chatted while Mr. Big Stuff played on the computer.  We actually got a brief, much needed, rest.  He chose books for himself and we checked out.   

After running a few errands, we were back home.  Lunchtime came, then we read his books.  Our next project was mixing together some dog biscuits and baking them.  That took a little while, but he was ready to really burn some energy.  Thankfully, the floor plan of our stone cottage makes a big circle, which is perfect for wild pedaling on a red tricycle.  I'm not sure how many laps he made that day, but all the dogs begged to go outside.  Apparently, they would rather be cold than trust a 5 year old on a red  tricycle.  It didn't take long until he was bored with that, so we made edible play dough and edible finger paint.  After another meal and another bath, and getting on pajamas, we settled in to watch one of his movies. 

Mr. Big Stuff actually fell asleep watching a movie from the library.  Whew!   

Thankfully there was warm sunshine on Sunday.  Mr. Big Stuff went outside and ran and ran and ran.  The grown ups sat down to rest! 

Winter is on its way.  There will be more days when it is "too wet to go out and too cold to play ball"!  How do you keep your little ones entertained?  I would love to hear about it.  We grown ups need to stick together!

I'll post these tutorials so your family can share our joy!

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