Parenting Share: What’s Mom’s Little Helper for Stealing a Moment of Peace?

First off, let me clarify — this article is absolutely not about avoiding taking care of the kids!!! It’s meant to help parents at home find ways to take a little break!! I think if you ask any full-time mom what she wants most?? “Her own time” would definitely rank in the top three!!!!

It’s hard to imagine that worrying about how to dress yourself today, putting on pretty high heels, sipping coffee leisurely, eating a meal gracefully,
or even sleeping in until you wake up naturally, or going to the bathroom without worry…are all considered “birthday wish-level” luxuries for a full-time mom!!

So besides nap time, cultivating your child’s habit of “independent play” becomes super important!!! Below are some things my little Qianqian loves, which she can play with intently even without an adult guiding her!!!

The best part… it doesn’t make too much of a mess at home!! (Otherwise… kids are the quietest when they’re making a mess, aren’t they?? XD)

Toys: Little Qianqian’s Doll Friends

↑ This whole row are her best friends!!

Recently, Little Qianqian got into playing “taking care of babies,” so these dolls get lined up one by one, or are assigned meals, bathroom breaks… the usual things mommies do.

At her most extreme, she once played by herself the whole afternoon and refused to sleep!!! (It took several days to correct that habit again)

Funny thing is… if you secretly listen to Little Qianqian’s conversations with her dolls, you’ll find out what kinds of things she’s been picking up!! XD (So don’t forget — “leading by example” is really important!!!!)

Pretend Play Game

Building on the previous tip, pairing toys with character roles — such as cooking, playing doctor, running a shop as the boss… can keep Little Qianqian seriously entertained for a long time.

Stealing a Moment 1
However, in this kind of play, mommies usually end up being roped in to play a role!! So you’ve just got to sneak away and do your own thing while you can XD

Clip Game

“Carefully using clips to pick up pom-poms and put them into a cup” — this simple action can totally engage Little Qianqian. Plus, it helps practice grip strength!! A twofer~~~ (Older kids can play with chopsticks instead.)

Bead Threading

This is a great toy for training kids’ concentration. Especially now that her fine motor skills are at a certain stage, threading beads is the perfect challenge for her. Once she finishes, she pulls them out and does it all over again — also a great helper in keeping her busy!!

Sticker Play

Few kids don’t love stickers!! Sticker play is one of her favorite games!! Hand her a stack of round stickers and a drawing book, and she can stay focused for ages!!

Books

Mini Role-Play Set

This one is amazing!!! In the first few days after we bought it, Little Qianqian would basically pull it out to play as soon as she woke up!! This mini role-play setup is very appealing to kids, and there aren’t too many extra parts to make a mess at home — super awesome!!

Treasure Hunt (Ages 3–6)

The illustrations inside are just so cute!! (And they look so delicious~~ suddenly got hungry:Q)

So after reading it with her a few times, she’ll go to the bookshelf on her own to find it, looking for her favorite page. Look~ she even reads it to her friends!!

Where’s Waldo (300 People Hide & Seek)

Honestly, I didn’t expect Little Qianqian to love this book so much!! Because it’s aimed at a slightly older age group (3–8 years), with more complex illustrations, but since mommy loves it so much, I bought it even before Qianqian was born >///< She would carefully observe the patterns of each theme, and then occasionally ask me, “What’s this ah….” and then go back to looking on her own~~

I highly recommend this book myself!!!I’ve even heard parents sharing about it before~~ This is the only book that can get my two brothers to peacefully coexist and read together XD

There are many picture books in this section (this part mostly happens after the pandemic)

Xiao Qianqian is quite the book-loving child, so every day we read lots of books to her. Because she’s heard them so many times, as her language skills have developed, she can now look at the pictures and tell the stories herself.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you can skip parent-child reading together!! Because the sweet time spent reading with adults is actually the most joyful part of storytime~~~

Transportation-themed puzzles

I think this is somewhat similar to stickers, and also a bit like puzzles. Because they both give kids a chance to interact (they’re not easy to break and are very simple), so after reading a few times, even without adult guidance, she can play happily on her own.

Magazines or picture books

Haha…. Is this a girl thing?? The colorful catalogs have always been Xiao Qianqian’s favorite!!! (She loves IKEA catalogs)
Hope she never suddenly says to me one day: “Mommy, let’s buy this!!!”

Same goes for magazines~~ She’ll find things she’s seen before in magazines, flipping through one after another. At this point, I just need to keep Xiao Qianqian and the magazines within my sight (because I still have to answer her questions~), and I can more easily do what I need to do.

Lastly~~ there’s also my most reliable helper…… my “better half”! The most anticipated moment of the day is when daddy comes home from work. Handing the kid over to daddy means I can happily relax a bit!! (I think…. daddy probably enjoys this time too~~ haha)

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The above little tips might not work for every baby, but it’s still worth a try~~~ (If they really don’t help at all, then I can only say… Xiao Qianqian is just too good!!) Of course, if we’re talking about the most powerful helper, the first thing many might think of is the “TV”!

Before, I attended a lecture by teacher Li Kunsan, where a parent asked this question: “I know it’s not good to let kids watch TV, but I have no choice~~ I have housework to do, I have to cook… the only time the kid is well-behaved and doesn’t make a fuss is when watching TV… what should I do??”

I’ll end by sharing the teacher’s answer for everyone’s reference~~

“Actually, watching TV isn’t entirely bad. Besides carefully selecting programs, the most important thing is to set a fixed time and amount, so the child develops a routine and won’t get addicted!! This is something adults can control~~!! When the time is up, just turn it off, instead of letting it keep playing…”

Do you agree with the teacher’s view~~^_^? Hope everyone can find a balance, so you don’t always feel like taking care of kids is exhausting.

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