Toddlers + A Ton of Rain = "Wahhhhhhhhh!"

The sun did not shine. It was stormy and bleak.

So we stayed inside at daycare all this wet, wet, wet week.

A few stormy days in a row can be hard for adults to get through. The dim light may make you cranky, sleepy or unfocused. The wet roads and sidewalks are a nuisance.  Here in The Tampa Bay area, especially, close lightning strikes and the resulting booming thunder may unnerve you. Finally, It’s just plain NO FUN to have to cancel plans outside or to miss out on fresh air and exercise.

Now imagine you are a toddler. You have to deal with everything that the adults do, but you also have your precious schedule disrupted on top of all the soggy blah-ness. I’m not being facetious here about just how valuable a predictable routine is to these little ones. Knowing what to expect next gives them the security they need to focus their energy on the vast amounts of learning that they must accomplish each day through their all important playtimes.

Is anything more fun than dumptrucks in the dirt and sand?

Up, up, up! Down, down, down the slide.

Trying to catch bubbles in her mouth.

The weather had been so beautiful here that our daily habit was to go outside once in the morning and once in the afternoon (sometimes for up to an hour at a time). Just being outside makes toddlers happy. Swinging, playing in the sand, blowing bubbles, sidewalk chalk, running, throwing balls, climbing, sliding, pushing or riding in cars, it’s all just so magical. Who can cry or be cranky when there is so much to do! Airplanes fly overhead, squirrels frolic and birds fly. We even see the occasional lizard! Ah, we love it.

Looking at a lizard See him?

Drat this prolonged rainy spell for taking it from us! Today is Thursday and the fourth day in a row of rain and mud and indoors only for these antsy one-year-olds!  My bag of tricks is running low. We’ve made a fort, used the step-stool for climbing games, used many play-dough items for the first time, made ramps for cars and balls, brought the slide onto the lanai (that means screened porch for you non-Floridians) and eaten a picnic in front of Word World in the Living Room (a sort of off-limits place).

Playing with play-dough

Ramps are fun!

Picnic in the living room

It’s turned into an endurance event. I can manage to cheer up and engage them for the most part, but ultimately we are all a little weary and grumpy. I’m just glad today is the last day of childcare for the week and we can regroup and start next week on a sunnier (figuratively and I HOPE literally) note!

NOTE: This was written a few weeks ago. The weather and everything that goes along with it has improved a lot since then!