How to Stay Motivated to Teach

I have had similar issues with motivation. My daughter is almost 4 months and I think the thing that has helped me the most is getting out. We go to the mall and walk around, or we take a trip to the pet store to look at the animals...free things that kids enjoy. Also, spending some time with just grown ups may help. Have a friend watch the kids and go out with your an adult (significant other or just a friend). It may help just to get away for a few hours.

Hope this helps.

I have found that the library has tons of resources you can use to help aid in teaching little ones. If you have a library card go check it out, but if not, I suggest you get one and see that the resources are abundant! I have found tons of books that have given me ideas to teach my little one things as she grows. Plus you can find stuff that is age appropriate for the little ones you have. Hope this helps!

P.S. Also, if you are tight on cash, libraries tend to have events catered to little ones and are free. This would be a great way to expose yourself to other moms and your kids to other children as well.

When I started to lose motivation I found it was because I felt completely strapped to my son. Try putting them in a mothers day out program. They are fairly cheap and they teach the children too. Having a few hours alone during the week gave me the motivation to start working with him again. I only have one child so I know that you must be going stir crazy. Most mothers day outs only run $100 a month and they have sibling discounts at everyone that I have seen.

Take a deep breath! Go for a girlsd night out!!!!!

Now.... I feel the same way a lot! I have a 9.5, 5.5, 4 andf 2 y/o. #1 was " brilliant"- after that I think we have learned our colors from which Wiggle is which, music and art from Baby Einstein and Counting from Elmo!

Seriously- my mom is a preschool teacher and she was saying that little ones learn like sponges- if we just give them a full enviroment- not a home class room. I do a lot of talking- "We will put on the red dress" "Arms go up, diaper comes off" We do read a little- one great book is called "Before Five in a Row"- it gives you some classic Preschool books and ideas on how to point different things out to kids about the books. The idea is to read the same story 5 days in a row. I'll go for walks and call it a "cat day" or "blue day" and we just point out the different things that match the day.
I give myself permission to not be "on"- to let the kids just play with Play Doh while I make dinner or to play w/ leggos on theier own. I think kids really need to learn to entertain themselves.
When all else fails, until the end of September, there is the Lake Highlands Splash park- which is free and alsmnost empty at noon- we eat lunch and go RUN so they take a good nap- and so do I :-)

I hear ya! Mine are 22 mo apart and I was very intentional about how my first child spent her day. When baby #2 came it was almost a full year of nonstop TV time. It will be fine! Everyone survives and no one's intellect will suffer.
You should be coming out of the "dark zone" now that your youngest is past the first birthday. Make girl's night out a priority. It doesn't have to be elaborate or expensive. I have girlfriends who I can just go to Sonic with and we chat over a limeade. I also have a couple of friends who like to grocery shop together. It's a great way to get girl-talk AND errands run at the same time! We just go late at night when the kids have gone to bed. You need some "big people" time once or twice a week. You also should find some pockets of time for yourself that doesn't include housework or other things that drain you. I have a great document on ordering your child's day put together by a friend of mine who has FIVE little girls all about a year apart. She works a business from home and has some good suggestions on how to fit everything in, including precious one-on-one time with each child. One huge tip is "room time" or "playpen time." There is about an hour out of each day where the kids play by themselves in their rooms. I make the time overlap so that when the baby goes for his room time (actually, playpen time because he's a little young to run loose in a room) I spend 30 min with my older child before she has room time for an hour. The next 30 min is all mine, then the next 30 min is "Mommy time" for the younger child. If this isn't already established in your routine, it will take a while for the kids to work up to a whole hour, but it can happen! I use the time with each kid individually for teaching, but it's really informal (reading books with the baby, counting blocks as we stack them, painting with my preschooler and mixing colors, or early literacy stuff with "I can read" books). I've noticed recently that my son (16 months) is actually learning things at an earlier age than my daughter did, simply because he's exposed to her world so much and imitates everything he sees and hears.

I would say to stop getting caught up in the rat race of teaching children everything and pushing them. Just let them be kids and absorb things themselves, and you may actually enjoy parenting more.

I would say, you're doing great!! The fact that you are at home with them is a huge benefit to them, and the younger will certainly learn from the older. The sponge affect works with siblings as well. Playdates with other Mom's is always good for me, and that's free. I think reading to them regularly and talking to them often, even if it's not intentionally educational, will increase their vocabulary and broaden their understanding of the world around them. And lots of hugs of course! Hope this helps. :)

I joined a moms group called MOPS or Mothers of Preschoolers. There are groups all over the metroplex. They meet once a month with the kids in age appropiate care just a room or two away while moms socialize and support each other in mothering. They also meet for play dates and moms night out about once a month. Go to mops.org to find one near you. They are affordable and even offer scholarships if you can't afford the yearly dues of about 65.00 Good luck.
J.