Parklife

Being a stay-at-home mum to two can be a challenge. Filling up your days all while educating and entertaining your kids is not always easy as it sounds. Neither of my two are in any kind of child care, so I often feel that I have to make sure we tick all the boxes - socialisation, music, art & craft, reading, playing. Just so they aren't missing out on what the other kids are doing - yep more mum guilt there!

Most days we go to the park, often twice a day and not unusually three times a day. I have to say going to the park is not my favourite thing. Sometimes it's fun, we concoct some kind of adventure and roll around laughing. Other days it's deadly boring (for me) pushing the swing and catching kids off the slide, it can be so monotonous that I think my brain may melt out my ears. At other times we catch up with friends so that the three of us get to interact with other people. I truly never imagined I would spend so much time in the park.

The older the kids get, the harder it is to entertain them. As day sleeps disappear, there's a lot more time to fill and a demand for more complicated games. Jangling my keys or playing peek-a-boo just doesn't cut it, no matter how hard I try. As much as I do love it, it's sometimes more exhausting than having small babes. My eldest gets bored and gets into mischief while I try and complete my chores and errands. Here is a picture from yesterday's effort:

Yes, that's toothpaste. Yes, that's her little sister. She says she was trying to turn her into a monster. Gee, thanks. All my own fault though, they were being particularly quiet and I used those quiet two minutes to finish washing up. I knew something bad was brewing, but a few minutes to complete something in peace is a rare thing. At this moment, Goosey is sleeping and Lil-Lil is covering me in stickers and paddlepop sticks from her craft box - anything to write in relative peace.

To keep the three of us sane, we've organised our days with Kindermusik, swimming lessons, playdates, playgroup/kindy sessions. To add to the mix they'll also be visiting a local nursing home every now and then. I'm also trying to organise excusions - today we went to the Maritime Museum, fabulous and free! We've also been to the Botanical Gardens recently. But, my God, trying to find fun things to do for free in Sydney is bloody hard. The zoo, aquarium, Luna Park and the like are more costly than child care! How do families go out and spend a day at these places, eat, pay for parking/transport and still have anything left in their wallets? It's highway robbery!

Does anyone out there have some fun [and free] suggestions? Something that doesn't involve toothpaste or parks... we've got those covered.