If you’ve got a toddler, you know you’ve got to get out of the house. like I said in my review of Naptime is the new pleased Hour, author Stefanie Wilder-Taylor is completely on board with the spirit of this site– which is that you’ve got to do activities, but they don’t all have to be kid-centric destinations.
My pal Nikki in LA takes her not-quite-two-year-old child to a lighting store on a regular basis. He has favorite lights that he likes to go check on. A decorating prodigy? Maybe, but I think his parents are the geniuses for realizing that a lighting showroom serves as a toddler fun house.
Most of the ideas below are already somewhere on RookieMoms.com, but I understand it is too much work for you to read the whole site. To make your life easier, I am sharing with you Stefanie Wilder-Taylor’s list of good places to take your child within a few miles from your house. (Her book is funny if you like a healthy dose of sarcasm with your Cheerios, by the way.)
1- The Bookstore ”“ think of a bookstore as a huge maze of secret passages.
2- The grocery store ”“ If you want to get your errands done while entertaining your child, let your kid ride in the basket of the cart.
3- The 99 Cents store ”“ even if your child runs around the aisles breaking crap for a half hour, you’ll still end up spending less than what you would on a pleased Meal.
4- Crafts stores ”“ young boy and girl children alike will browse colorful beads, construction paper and ready-to-paint figurines with much more enthusiasm than a starlet browsing Oscar de la Renta’s collection for a dress to wear to the Emmys.
5- The Park ”“ children are like puppies. They need to run and jump and trek sand and poop into your house.
6- Anywhere with Trains ”“ Kid’s love ”˜em. I don’t get it, but I don’t need to.
Related links
> read much more from Stefanie
> other Rookie mothers favorite outings for toddlers:
Pet store
Graffiti photo shoots
Riding the bus (like Becky in Boston)