Parental leave activities
Discussion
Not really a health thing but all of the family stuff seems to get moved here, so:
I will have two months off with my one year old son and am looking for ideas of things to do. A lot of daytime activities seem very mummy-oriented, or at least they feel that way because they're full of mummies, which is fine for a while but not all the time. We'll be going to the beach/woods/zoo/science centre etc as hopefully he'll be walking by then, but was looking for some other social activities where he would be around other children.
Anything else I should look at outside of 'dads groups', which are few and far between?
I will have two months off with my one year old son and am looking for ideas of things to do. A lot of daytime activities seem very mummy-oriented, or at least they feel that way because they're full of mummies, which is fine for a while but not all the time. We'll be going to the beach/woods/zoo/science centre etc as hopefully he'll be walking by then, but was looking for some other social activities where he would be around other children.
Anything else I should look at outside of 'dads groups', which are few and far between?
Maybe put up a rough location or town & I'm sure someone can tell you exactly what their little ones do/did on different days of the week.
I would maybe looking at some kind of baby sensory class if they do them locally to you. Or there are probably lots of play groups going on in various different church halls through out the week so your little one can interact with other kids.
I would maybe looking at some kind of baby sensory class if they do them locally to you. Or there are probably lots of play groups going on in various different church halls through out the week so your little one can interact with other kids.
I was fortunate to be in your position last year and had a great few months hanging out with my son!
We went to baby groups a few times, where I was the only Dad and swimming lessons where I was usually the only Dad. We had a lot of trips to the park etc - zoo and beach would have been awesome! Since then we have bought an annual pass for our local zoo and the little dude loves it. We also spent a lot of time with my parents and had our annual holiday in the time I was off - so I was able to use the time I would have had off for a holiday later in the year.
I tried to get into a routine of doing something productive in the morning, running errands, jobs around the house etc in the morning, leaving the afternoon free to do fun stuff. As it is PH - I tried to use my MR2 for running as many errands as possible - and loved the feeling of parking my silly sports car inbetween all the SUVs and people carriers in the parent and child spaces at the super market. The wee man loved being in the car with the roof down and is turning into a right little petrolhead.
I did a series of blog posts about it at the time, as there aren't that many of us doing it. So if you have any questions just ask.
I thought it was well worth the two months without pay, as it gave us some really good bonding time at such a key point in my son's development. I was hoping that he would be walking when I was off, but that took another 6 months, but I could tell just how far he had come on even in the two months I was off.
We went to baby groups a few times, where I was the only Dad and swimming lessons where I was usually the only Dad. We had a lot of trips to the park etc - zoo and beach would have been awesome! Since then we have bought an annual pass for our local zoo and the little dude loves it. We also spent a lot of time with my parents and had our annual holiday in the time I was off - so I was able to use the time I would have had off for a holiday later in the year.
I tried to get into a routine of doing something productive in the morning, running errands, jobs around the house etc in the morning, leaving the afternoon free to do fun stuff. As it is PH - I tried to use my MR2 for running as many errands as possible - and loved the feeling of parking my silly sports car inbetween all the SUVs and people carriers in the parent and child spaces at the super market. The wee man loved being in the car with the roof down and is turning into a right little petrolhead.
I did a series of blog posts about it at the time, as there aren't that many of us doing it. So if you have any questions just ask.
I thought it was well worth the two months without pay, as it gave us some really good bonding time at such a key point in my son's development. I was hoping that he would be walking when I was off, but that took another 6 months, but I could tell just how far he had come on even in the two months I was off.
That was a great read, thank you! The beaches will be Scottish beaches so don't get too excited, but the zoo is quite cool for kids - monkeys and meercats and little things like that, was only £1.25 entry last time I went.
I have in my head that we'll be spending most of the time out of the house to make the most of it but we'll see how long that lasts, especially having to feed on-the-go. I'll try to drive my wife to work most days (actually I'll need to if I want the car) so that will get us up and out, will just need to prep everything the night before. He's quite a sociable wee guy anyway so maybe a couple of playgroup things will be enough, and we can go exploring the rest of the time.
I have in my head that we'll be spending most of the time out of the house to make the most of it but we'll see how long that lasts, especially having to feed on-the-go. I'll try to drive my wife to work most days (actually I'll need to if I want the car) so that will get us up and out, will just need to prep everything the night before. He's quite a sociable wee guy anyway so maybe a couple of playgroup things will be enough, and we can go exploring the rest of the time.
To a degree, it doesn’t matter what you do as long as you spend it with him, focussed on him. I had a spell where I dropped to compressed hours and loved the time with my son. I got a kids seat for my bike and we used to go for rides along the canal, stop and feed the ducks etc. He’d usually sleep at some point and I got some exercise, win win! All kids that age love swings and soft play, but really they just want you to play with them, be it duplo, puzzles, whatever. Just go with the flow and enjoy it, it’ll be gone before you know it!
It sounds stupid, but make sure you enjoy the time whatever you do.
I'm getting to spend a bit more time with my boys now (they're 9 and 6 now) but missed out a lot while they were babies due to work and it's something I regret.
Another thing, whatever you do, take plenty of pictures. We were going through the loft last weekend and found a box of photos from when my eldest was a baby and it struck me how few pictures there were of me and him together.
I'm getting to spend a bit more time with my boys now (they're 9 and 6 now) but missed out a lot while they were babies due to work and it's something I regret.
Another thing, whatever you do, take plenty of pictures. We were going through the loft last weekend and found a box of photos from when my eldest was a baby and it struck me how few pictures there were of me and him together.
RTB said:
It sounds stupid, but make sure you enjoy the time whatever you do.
I'm getting to spend a bit more time with my boys now (they're 9 and 6 now) but missed out a lot while they were babies due to work and it's something I regret.
Another thing, whatever you do, take plenty of pictures. We were going through the loft last weekend and found a box of photos from when my eldest was a baby and it struck me how few pictures there were of me and him together.
You're welcome to borrow mine for a week if you want? I'm getting to spend a bit more time with my boys now (they're 9 and 6 now) but missed out a lot while they were babies due to work and it's something I regret.
Another thing, whatever you do, take plenty of pictures. We were going through the loft last weekend and found a box of photos from when my eldest was a baby and it struck me how few pictures there were of me and him together.
Thanks for the tips - 'spend time with him, focused on him' is one of the main things I took away, I'm guilty of not even doing that so much now. Will be good not to have work to recover from in the evenings though, will have a lot more time available.
ScotHill said:
You're welcome to borrow mine for a week if you want?
Thanks for the tips - 'spend time with him, focused on him' is one of the main things I took away, I'm guilty of not even doing that so much now. Will be good not to have work to recover from in the evenings though, will have a lot more time available.
Going back to work at the end of my parental leave was a rest! Entertaining/wrangling an almost 1 year old is harder work than developing infotainment systems for cars I can assure you!Thanks for the tips - 'spend time with him, focused on him' is one of the main things I took away, I'm guilty of not even doing that so much now. Will be good not to have work to recover from in the evenings though, will have a lot more time available.
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