The Professional Mama

Washing dishes/water pouring bin Oliver making a bird feeder With quarantine and social distancing, many parents are left home with their adorable babies for the first time since maternity/paternity leaves. Personally, I was baffled when I started staying home with my toddler. How do I occupy him? How can I play with him? Can't he play by himself? As a toddler parent, I often find myself living in 15-30 minutes windows of attention for an activity, my goal is to fill each day as much as possible with enriching activities that let him explore and play on his own, are educational, or just get him off my hands for a minute! I've compiled a list of my favorite activities and some of my favorite Instagram accounts to follow for new ideas. Guide: Tong work Sensory Activites-   for these activities I use under bed storage bins ( Under bed Storage Tote ). For those involving water, we do them on the tile in with a beach towel underneath.  Art, Music, Engineering A

Meal planning has become a buzzword in the last few years for various reasons. On a diet? Meal plan. On a budget? Meal plan. Trying to eat in more? Meal plan. Hate grocery shopping? Meal plan. While everyone seems to agree that meal planning will change your food habits, they seem to always miss out on the "How to Meal Plan Without Losing Your Mind" section. I tried and failed many times at meal planning. I tried where every Monday was meatless, Tuesdays were tacos, etc but that felt too boring and rigid for me. I've also tried weeks full of new and exciting recipes, but this left me with ingredients that I would never use again and by the time the next month came around I wouldn't even remember some of the dishes. I tried a month's worth of freezer crockpot meals but they were lackluster. I tried using cheat sheets, other people's plans, and even their shopping lists but it just wasn't working. Overall, meal planning felt like a chore and I was n