The Witching Hour

Please tell me my household isn't the only one that is absolutely INSANE between the hours of 4-6. You know, the kids just wake up from their afternoon naps...but even though they were sleeping for two and a half hours they somehow manage to be cranky? To add to the chaos daddy's coming home soon and you're trying to get dinner on the table. I like to refer to this as "The Witching Hour"

You have 3 choices when this time rolls around.
A. Have a mental breakdown
B. Stop everything your doing, get nothing done and just play with your kids
C. Open a bottle of wine

I choose C. JOKING! (sometimes. cough, cough)

No seriously, the answer is GET CREATIVE!! Bring out the big guns. Think outside the box.

Let them play with all those plastic sacks you've been saving to recycle. FYI, I was right there cooking dinner, watching them very closely so they didn't put them over their heads!

Give them pots & pans with spoon and make some music.

It helps to have a very enthusiastic 4 yr old to pick up the stuff when they start playing "fetch"

As you can see these tricks don't always last very long but maybe, just maybe, long enough to finish chopping veggies and throw them in the steamer.

Here are a few other ideas I've used with my kids when they are "bored" with their toys...and remember my children are still very young...

1. Belts...between my hubby and I we have about 20 belts. The boys love to connect all of them and make a long snake. Hey, you laugh, it takes them 20 minutes.
2. A wet wash cloth. Simple yet amazing. The babies "wash" each other and the kitchen floor. The boys usually run around the house with it over their faces, but whatever.
3. When they are big enough to stand on a chair in the kitchen I will pull it over to the sink and have them "wash" dishes. Fill the sink with soapy water and a couple of plastic dishes...at least 30 minutes of fun!
4. Have older kids put coins in a piggy bank. I don't know how many times I've secretly dumped Gavin's piggy bank out and sat him up at the kitchen table and gave him this 15 minute project. Killing two birds with one stone here. He stops tormenting his sibling for a few minutes AND gets to practice some hand-eye coordination.

Please share your creative ideas with me....I'm running out and the older ones are beginning to catch on.