Keeping Them Entertained While I .....

Cleaning will wait. Play with them.
You can clean when they go to college and it won't take half the time.
LBC

I only did housework when they were sleeping. When my kids were that young, I got very good advice from my mother:
your home should be "clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy."

I stick mine in her room and let her make whatever mess in there she wants as long as it stays in there. It's much easier to clean up her toy mess later than to clean the kitchen or bathroom with her underfoot.

Favorite TV show. Food. Letting them "help" (they can stack tupperware while I unload the real dishes or letting them sort socks into big and small while I fold other laundry).

I let them help me! I make it a game to clean up---let them have the duster. Cheer when they pick up toys. Whatever will work. My soon-to-be 6yr old is awesome at cleaning up and helping and my one yr old giggles when I get her to throw something in the trash or put a toy back in the bin.

If she is insistent on tearing stuff apart....I clean the kitchen while she's pulling toys out or clean a bathroom. Basically I just don't freak out about it. I split my cleaning up over days too so I don't get overwhelmed. I used to make Mon my cleaning day and would get so upset because it was impossible to get it done with kid (s). But if I make Mon bathroom day and Tues the kitchen and so on...it makes it ALOT easier to handle. My house is pretty much always clean...seriously....and I am not going bonkers

I always had a messy house, pretty much! I saved TV time for this. If you don't watch much, it will be special and they'll watch. OR we did what we could while one of us took the kids somewhere and the other cleaned. But in general, we changed our expectations of how the house would look. Now my youngest is 4 and things are getting better.

Teach the kids to help. This is hard now and seems like it's not working. But in time it will pay off! You want them to contribute eventually. You are not the servant but if you never teach your kids to clean and help, you will be!

I have one of those picnic tables for kids. I require the toys be played with at the table and I don't give them their toy buckets or let them get into them while I'm cleaning. I keep everything in a way that I can pick up the buckets or wheel them out of the way when I need to clean. Frankly, mom, my 18 month old children can and do play at the table or watch tv. YOU have to be in control.

My daughter is 3 1/2 and she is pretty good at keeping herself occupied. Or I will give her a small chore to do to help mommy. BUT... as soon as I clean up her toys she will try to bring everything back out again. Drives me nuts! As for when she was smaller I would just work around her. She always found something to do. It took me along time to get my house back in somewhat order. Hubby helps when he can but sometimes he makes a bigger mess then my daughter. LOL!!! I get things cleaned up during the week and then weekends he makes a mess all over again. It's never ending.

I plopped the younger one in the pack and play so I could get stuff done. He watched me, watched TV, played with toys, what ever he needed I got for him. He ate Cheerio's, Kix, Rice Chex, drank milk or juice, all without much fuss.

OF course when he figured out he could get out that wasn't an option anymore so the gates came out. He stayed in the bedroom area, with the gate being across the hallway door. He could see me and I could hear him from anywhere in the house. He was safe and I could do whatever I needed.

i agree with the snack in a high chair--my son is 2.5 and will sit quietly and watch a show now (took FOREVER for him to not be afraid to sit still long enough! lol) but my 11 month old follows me around hanging onto my legs all day whenever she realizes i'm trying to get something cleaned around here. I stick her in her high chair with a snack and a drink while i clean the kitchen and do laundry where she can still see me. She screams if I go out of her site. Good luck and have fun at the park!

I am relieved to hear several moms say not to worry about cleaning while the kids are up. I totally agree! Cleaning can wait. My house is a mess during the day; my husband and I clean it at night after they go to sleep, or we take turns on the weekend while one of us plays with them. My kids are 2 and almost 1, and I get NOTHING done when I'm taking care of them, and I think that is the way it is supposed to be! Enjoy your babies!

Did your kids talk to mine this morning?!?

I swear, I can clean the house and it will take me about an hour. It will take my kids, the 5mins after i sit down, to tear it up again!

Um as far as distractions. My son, who is also 3, will sit and watch a movie.
My 1 year old little girl, however, will crawl after me. She has a great skill for hanging onto my feet ONLY when I am trying to move around and work.
Sometimes the easiest way to get them both chilled is to have my son distract his sister.
I put them both in front of that movie, with some toys, and tell my son "You keep an eye on Abi, You're in charge big guy"
I'll be watching them, of course, but he is a great babysitter for these times.
I can hear him saying "no no no Abi, that toy is too small for you to play with." Here Abi, play with this instead"
So fantastic.

Or I distract my daughter with food haha that sounds bad.
Anyway, I can put her in her high chair and give her a snack. She will sit there for a while as long as she has something to munch on.