Sending Oldest to K, What to Do with the 2 y.o. Critter???

My oldest is starting Kindergarten this month. My two year old will be home with me. I have started preparing little "school" activities for her. One theme a week. Week 1 is going to be fruit. I have coloring pages and little crafts, etc. I am also going to sign her up for a tumbling class and we will be visiting the library for story time.

I personally wouldn't do the in home daycare. Soon enough my little one will be starting preschool so until them I'll just try to keep her busy with things she likes and with her new "school."

The youngest sibling does adapt perfectly well, and doesn't actually NEED to go anywhere for socialization, but if you need a little break, or want them to have a little change, check out mothers morning out at some churches in your area. Mine is $5 for the whole morning!

dont be surprised if your little critter enjoys having mom all to herseslf on those days or enjoys some quiet play time by hersellf. She will miss her brother and will be his welcoming committee each day. I miss those special days - enjoy this time! Check out if your library has books on tape / ipod - you can set her up for that quiet time. Also consider kid sharing with another mom - you can take turns having eachother's kid over for a few hours one day a week.

What about instead of looking for a daycare you seek out a mom/toddler group. You can search churches, libraries and even look at meetup.com. I know here there are many things to do in the mornings with little ones.

Our library has a toddler meet up/ where they are read a story and do little events.

My church has a mops group. (Mother of Preschoolers)

The township recreation building has a toddler dance group.

Get involved with her that way. Even if it means a small expense to join a dance group. You have the time and mornings to do something, this is what I would do if I was you.

Check out the classes at both YMCA's and the park district. Mommy and Me type classes are lots of fun and not usually very expensive. My son and I did gym classes, swim, art, music. They usually met once a week. He loved it!

When my kids were too little for school they started at a Methodist Mothers Day Out, (I am not Methodist) but it was great, my kids loved every minute of it, they would not even say good bye, they would just ran in!

No matter your religion, very much likely there is a Church based Mothers day out around you and were we used to go had very reasonable prices.

I always had my kids two or three days at the programs, it was good for everybody, I had a bread and time to do other things either running errands without carring them everywhere or time for myself to get together with friends and the kids made friends, learned things, and really enjoyed their time there. Win - win

Good luck!

Is there a KinderCare in your area? It's a franchise, but I've been happy with ours. If you can find them, check them out. They have different schedules you can use for days/hours per week. Good luck!

Couple of ideas...

At my son's preschool (also have an infant/toddler daycare program) there are many children who attend 2 or 3 1/2 days per week just to be around other kids. Their mothers do not work, but it's really good for children to be around other children in an organized group setting.

Check out centers and in-home daycares. My son was in an in-home daycare for 3 years and we LOVED the mixed age group setting for him. We moved him to the preschool at age 3 because he was then one of the oldest and was frequently coming home and telling us that he was bored and there were too many babies- he was right. My daughter attends the infant program at his preschool and we are very happy there too.

So... long-winded response summarized... schedule visits as several different places. When you find "the one", you'll know it! You will be comfortable and your little one will feel at ease (bring her along).

Oh and yes, she will be up your butt all day long because she's used to having a playmate!

Look for Meet Ups for kids in that age range. Our Meet Up has been great for ideas, playmates, and new friends. Also, nature centers, parks, museums. See what your local park and rec program has to offer. Here, we have many low cost or free programs for kids. I would expect her to enjoy the time with you once she gets used to it. Take this time to do things that your 5 yr old wouldn't want to do and to work on her potty training (my DD was 3). And, frankly, remember what it was like with just one kid in tow? Enjoy that again while your older daughter is at school. It sounds like your work schedule doesn't need her in daycare right now so I'd just refocus and think "well, what does this kiddo like to do and how does it affect my schedule to have one kid around?"

http://fumcb.org/ministries/childrens-classes/parents-day...

http://www.meetup.com/hoosier-mamas/

The places should have some ideas for you. The top one is a mothers day out program and the second a mom's group for your area.

If you just want her to interact with other kids, what about some toddler classes instead of full on day care? Our rec center offers some classes geared towards two year olds - music class, just for twos (Letters and colors) and a toddler gymnastics class. THey are all very reasonably priced around here.

my kids did playgroups till they were 3 and potty trained..

I found them through the school districts and through the county (intermediate school districts). check online see what you can find. look at your local parks and rec brochure for classes. .. check other local cities parks and rec books.. dont limit yourself to you local libary.. check the library activities for other nearby libaries.

kindermusik clases are fun.. a swim class. gymboree classes are fun.. but expensive..

I would try to find something to do maybe 3 mornings a week.. have a kind of at home get housework done day.. and a go grocery shopping day.

Wait and see how your child adapts. My youngest learned to love the time without her sister. I was surprised. She was happy to see her sister come home, but she didn't miss her like I thought she would. Good luck. It does require a lot more Mom time. I am looking forward to my youngest starting school next year. It's tough being the entertainment.

My son is in school and his little sister is home with me (they are 5 years apart). I think it is GREAT bc we get some one on one time and she has her morning activities. We keep very busy - basically we do something every single morning, then come home for lunch, then she naps. Some of the things she does are music and movement at the library (and story time some days as well), the free preschooler/toddler program at our local environmental center one morning a week, the free music program by an amazing teacher that is held once a month, the free craft time at our local family meeting center, or we just go on the morning there is a general meet up time and I talk to moms while she plays with the other kids, the aquatic center, or to childwatch at the gym so I can work out. This fall she is going to be in a little preschool co-op (I have to help out at times) 2 mornings a week. And she is going to be signed up for gymnastics (one morning a week). There are so many activities we have to pick and choose really. Another thing is we used to invite over other moms and their similar aged tykes every now and then for a morning coffee/chat/playdate. Last year I hired a "nanny" for one morning a week so I could get a little work done. Hope that gives you some ideas! I'm sure you can find some free toddler activities near you - we are swamped with them where we live. Keep asking around with other moms and see what you can find.