This coming week will be the first time (in 9 months since I left my full time job), that I will be away from K for a few days. Dh will be taking leave from work to spend time with K. I am glad to know that father and son will be spending some ‘male bonding’ time together, yet, at the same time can’t help but feel a little worried about not being around for K.
To satisfy my ‘anal tendencies’ (according to dh), he has asked me to draft out a schedule for him to follow. I have told him that setting up schedules with a toddler is fundamentally useless, especially when it comes to playtime. But I have anyway, wrote out a long list of activities that dh can keep k busy with, including routines that he can refer to.
Daily routines have to be established, but activities are usually child-initiated. If I want K to do a certain activity, his attention span will last the most 10-15 minutes, unless it is something that he is interested in exploring for the day.
I suppose dh will just do what he is best at…bring K out and tire him out with outdoor activities. It seems that a visit to the zoo, swimming and taking the LRT/MRT, are just some of the morning activities dh have planned for K.
Anyhow, while I was typing the activities out in a list, I realised that K spends quite a bit of time in front of the TV:
12.00 p.m. – 1.15 p.m. – Lunchtime TV/DVD time
4.45 p.m – 6.45 p.m. – Evening google box time with Playhouse disney
7.30 p.m. – 8.30 p.m. – Dinnertime TV (usually watching whatever I watch)
That’s a total of 4 hours and 15 mins or more, in front of the television everyday! So I have highlighted to dad that he needs to cut down on his TV time when he is with K, as he has a tendency to be a couch potato (which is his form of relaxation) at home. There have been times when I get dh to babysit K for a few hours in the morning/evening, I always return to dh with his eyes glued to the TV and K is sitting right next to him/tumbling on the bed/turning the room upside down, while dad has his eyes still glued to the box.
I really hope k does not become a coach potato when I am back on Friday…
