5 Ways to Get 30 Minutes as a WAHM
5 Ways to Get 30 Minutes as a WAHM
As we all know, being a work at home mom (or dad) doesn’t just entail working; it also involves doing laundry, dishes, a fitness app, and (impossibly) showering. We also know that simply telling kids of any age to, “Go play in your room, Mommy’s working,” is an open invitation to be interrupted every three minutes (bye, sanity). This is why we suggest having quick activities for kids that will keep children entertained long enough for you to accomplish your goals without losing your mind.
Arts & Crafts Time
Children, especially those who are preschool age, have an average attention span of three to five minutes, which means any activity that they need to be able to do unsupervised for thirty minutes needs to be one that won’t get stale in a matter of moments.
While nothing is fool-proof, arts and crafts are a great way to keep the kiddos occupied for at least half an hour. Pick something that is not going to leave a huge mess (looking at you, kinetic sand) if things get out of hand or that doesn’t require a lot of instruction or supervision.
Simple water coloring has proven to be a big hit. The key is to have lots of paper and drying space available, so the kids can plow through as many masterpieces as they want. Experience has shown that kids will stay interested in water coloring until the paper runs out.
Building with Blocks & Legos
Another way to get kids engaged for 30 minutes is by busting out the blocks and the Legos (magnetic blocks are great, too, if you have them). With lots of options for getting creative, blocks (most stimulating when mixed and matched) are a perfect 30-minute kid activity provided your little one is in the right mindset to employ those fine motor skills.
Morning is usually a good time for quiet, independent play and is an ideal time for you to get writing and other must-do tasks out of the way; usually by afternoon, kids are bouncing off the walls and would be better occupied dancing around to Baby Shark (when this happens, hit play on YouTube and then run hide in that shower you’ve been hoping to take since 7 AM).
YouTube Kids Physical Fitness Videos
Seriously, about YouTube…while there’s a whole host of creepy YouTube content that will turn your kid into a zombie (ahem, adults who play with LOL Dolls), there are also great exercise, dance, and sing-along videos that kids can bounce around to. These are five that we’ve used with very positive results.
· Pink Fong! Kids’ Songs & Stories
Because there’s a lot of noise and activity anyway, this can be a great time for you to get your pre-lunch workout in if that’s part of your day.
Nap or Quiet Time
While some of us (raises hand) have kids that were never big nappers, that doesn’t mean that you can’t institute a mandatory quiet time every day at the same time. Consistency is key. Lots of parents who found they still had to work from home and facilitate online learning during COVID implemented afternoon quiet times (usually after lunch but before snack) with great success. Some enviable parents were able to get up to two hours of uninterrupted time (be still my heart).
To ensure your little one doesn’t keep getting up, explain that quiet time is when we go to our rooms and play quietly. There’s no TV or tablets. It helps to even tuck your child in and read a short story before leaving them. Make sure to close the door and keep the rest of the house quiet.
If you didn’t get all of your essential work done in the morning, this is the best time to make that happen.
Interactive Snack Time
Snack time can be another time where you can take 30 minutes for yourself and nurture your child’s creativity by letting them play with their food (seriously). Remember making ants on a log with raisins, peanut butter, and celery? Pinterest has so many creative ways for your kid to make adorable and delicious (and healthy) snacks.
Think in terms of laying out apple, banana, and mandarin slices and some cashew nuts to create The Very Hungry Caterpillar or making silly animal toast. It’s super easy; just add a spread of your choice on a piece of toast and give your children some different shaped toppers like sliced bananas, strawberries, blueberries, etc. and encourage them to play while they snack.
Not only is this a solid 30-minute activity for kids of any age, but it can also promote healthy snack habits because they’ll start to associate these foods with fun. Meanwhile, you get a table-full of laundry folded.
While not every day can be a perfect day nor will you get everything on your list done every day, these are a few low-key, low-mess, and low-stress quick activities for kids that allow you to take 30 minutes of much-needed, uninterrupted time for yourself. Stay strong, fellow WAHMs (and dads). You’ve got this.
Being a WAHM really is a blessing, but it provides a whole host of challenges we never experienced back in our traditional in-office days. WAHMs need to help other WAHMs, which is what we at The Storyteller Agency aim to do. By sharing our experiences and expertise as WAHMs, we hope we can make your day run with greater efficiency. Here’s to staying sane.
Amy Delcambre
Amy is a creative nonfiction writer and editor with over a decade of professional writing and editing experience in technical writing, content marketing, travel writing, memoir and creative nonfiction essay writing, and contemporary fiction. She has worked for multiple companies including The Storyteller Agency, Vertical Measures, Compass Media, and Madden Media to name a few. Amy’s writing has been published on countless websites and in various collections.
Amy serves as co-president for the Mobile Writers Guild and as a member-at-large for the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA). Amy is also a member of the Authors Guild, the ACES: The Society for Editing, and the Alabama Writers’ Conclave. In addition to her writing activities Amy is a part-time professor of English for the University of South Alabama and for the University of Phoenix Online. She routinely teaches courses in literature, composition, writing for social media, fiction writing, and creative nonfiction. Amy holds a Master’s in creative writing from the University of South Alabama and in publishing from George Washington University.
Amy is a work-at-home widowed mom of three young daughters and one angel son. Much of Amy’s writing revolves around the chaos, confusion, and crocodile tears of navigating work and child-rearing as a solo act; however, Amy remains eternally optimistic about life and the beauty of this world as she processes her grief and helps her daughters navigate theirs.
When she isn’t writing, Amy is an avid outdoor fitness enthusiast. She loves running, biking, swimming, and kayaking and engages in at least one of those activities every day. Amy is also a passionate home cook and culinary gardener. Like most writers, Amy is a reader who gets her literary fix on the fly through audiobooks, which she listens to while cooking, cleaning, exercising, folding endless piles of laundry...whatever it takes. Like most work-at-home moms, Amy is trying to strike the right balance between slowing down and taking it easy, and “having it all”. The results are entertaining if nothing else.
Read more of Amy’s writing at:
Her personal website, www.amydelcambre.ink
Her website dedicated to processing losing her son: www.letterstojude.com
Her editing website, www.creativeeditingservices.com
Follow Amy on Facebook @amysdwriter and @creativeeditingservices and @travelingwithstories.
Follow Amy on Instagram @amy.s.d_writer and @travelingwithstories and @creativeeditingservices
