Good Lazy Parenting

starshinning

i find batch cooking saves me loads of time. one really messy day int he kitchen and a freezer full of quick and easy food

londoner01

I can't believe the amount of feathers this thread has ruffled!

I'm not a parent, so here's some snippets of my childhood:

We had no toys at bath times. I *loved* playing with bubble castles, splashing and making waves, blowing bubbles from my fingers, and pretending to be an old lady when my fingertips went wrinkly. I also remember playing den with one of the towels my mother used to dry me, so I'd get all warm and cozy.
I even remember that I thought children who had toys to play at bath times childish.

My mother somehow instilled in my sister, when she was very young, a love for helping emptying the dishwasher. They'd do it together and my sister was the right height for it to be zero effort for her, and it would save my mother from bending her back. Win win.

We'd also play treasure hunt at the supermarket

I have NEVER thought of my mother as lazy and in fact wish I'd helped out more as a teenager. I also don't think that not having toys at bath time (or at the table) deprived me of any formative experiences.

kingfisherblue

Oh dear, confession time for me . I have never made cauliflower cheese successfully from scratch . My daughter has - she's a better cook than me, and she is more interested in cooking than I am. She can make it without lumps. I can't. It's just an impossibility for me, even with the powdered sauce. Mind you, I have been known to sieve gravy too :rotfl:.

On the other hand, my three kids, now aged 22, 15 and 13, have had hours of fun with cardboard boxes (as referred to by another poster) - cars, forts, houses, boats, hospitals, etc. They have played with water, dirt (mud pies anyone? ), paint, chalk, and other messy stuff. We have boxes of craft stuff, and even now they help to test craft activities for Rainbows and Brownies - sometimes successfully, other times.....well, I've had to alter ideas on occasion :rotfl:

I still regularly read to my two boys, and we play games together. My youngest loves my mum's complicated jigsaws. We sing - my kids have inherited my out of tune voice, but so what, we're happy. Incidentally, my Rainbows and Brownies all sing beautifully out of tune along with me .

Whatever people choose to do, or not to do, is surely a personal thing? My MIL thinks I'm crazy for doing craft activities with my kids, as it can be messy, and she wouldn't dream of reading with them (although my middle child insists on sitting next to her and reading, whether she wants it or not ). I, on the other hand, think that there is more to life than a spotless lounge and an evening of non-stop TV.

ETA: my two eldest also eat spaghetti hoops sometimes

valk_scot

OH or I used to bath with the kids to save time and hot water pennies, there wasn't much space in the bath for toys after. In the summer I would sometimes hose them down outside with a solar shower rather than yer actual bath. I never did bathtime every night anyway, every second night was quite enough unless they'd been playing in something mucky. When the boys were a bit older (4&6) they did bath together and I'd bath their very small sister baby in the sink, which saved double bathtimes. Bath toys? Yes, they had all sorts of jugs and plastic cups and such, these went in the dishwasher to keep them clean. I really was not into the black slime that grew inside squirty toys.

Other timesaver? Official Pick Up Time. I started this when DD was tiny and I was stuck on the sofa feeding her, I'd name two objects, say where they were to be put away and shout Go!...the boys loved these races and I could get at least half the detritus of the day put away for me.

I fail to see why cauliflower with cheese on top is any less worthy than pouring a packet mix cheese sauce over the cauliflower. My timesaver dish was boiled cauliflower sprinkled with cheese and breadcrumbs and baked...au gratin, you know? Baked potatoes with cheesy beans, boiled eggs and soldiers, French bread pizzas, omelettes, Spanish omelette, pasta with passata and cheese, French toast, peas or tinned sweetcorn or salad on the side. I used to be able to make a fast tea for the kids within fifteen minutes of coming through the front door. What's wrong with fast home made meals?

loracan1

They'll be a bit young yet but ninja t-shirt folding is good for older children (first time I've ever had my 16-year old actually searching for clothes to put away) first time I ever heard of it was a thread on here somewhere.

shegirl wrote: »

Anyone else find this sad?

No. There's nothing better than knowing your kids are happily engaged in doing something useful/helpful/educational with minimal input.

However what I do find a little sad is that you and others jumped at the opportunity to criticise the OP.

poet123

Goodness me, you would think the OP was feeding her kids McD by the bucket load instead of veggies!! I never make Bechamel sauce for Cauliflower Cheese I hate the stuff, I always use grated cheese, usually in several colours!

As for bath "toys" anything can be fun in the bath, we had jugs, bottles, spoons, and a few garish plastic things. Kids can be overs stimulated with "stuff" often that stunts their own imagination.

Give the OP a break!

bylromarha

Pots were my friend.

I used to make double portions of food and freeze. Defrost on those days I couldn't be bothered to cook the kids a healthy meal.

I stopped ironing a long time ago.

I had one of those washing up liquid dispenser things where the brush contained the washing up liquid - small bowl of hot water, quick scrub, drainer any time I made a cup of tea/juice/snack etc. No big wash up to do at the end of the day. Same logic to unloading the drainer - few plates here, couple pans there...little and often meant I didn't feel I was doing chores.

Raksha

OP, you might find the sloblady thread a source of ideas, if only to discover you arent as lazy as you thought

pigpen

Metranil_Vavin wrote: »

My son likes tinned spaghetti hoops

I won't feed mine such culinary delights.. they get the straight stuff I get the hoops... and see how many I can thread on my fork... and I eat them cold from the tin!

I don't think I own an iron.. I think KH took it when he left over 4.5 years ago..

Mine were outside making 'mud angels' yesterday.. they looked like urchins when they came in but they had a wonderful time!.. I'm just glad children are not dry clean only!

I actually wonder why we have toys at all, I'm sure if I got rid of every single one they'd not even notice!.. These play with balls of wool, rolls of sellotape, boxes, tubes, twigs/grass, chalks (on my slate kitchen floor! .. At least I can see where I have mopped!) and all manner of anything but 'toys'

Raksha

One of my fav memories of bath time was blowing bubbles with my hands and proper soap, or seeing how much water a flannel would hold when I gathered the corners together, watching it trickle out was fascinating.