With the rains back, it’s getting harder to keep the boys sane.  They really enjoyed walks or playing out in the backyard, and when they would get really fussy sometimes getting outside would be just the trick.  Better than drugging them, anyway.  But now, even with the lovely new deck, it just isn’t as feasible to head outside for play time.  We’re trying to figure out how to keep the house stimulating enough to keep their interest, but they’re just getting too big and too old to be interested in the same old toys and rooms day after day.  Anyone have any suggestions?  How to you keep 17 month old kids entertained over the winter?  Is it time to send them to boarding school?

One thing we’re trying to do is set up a play area in the garage, which is simultaneously the best and stupidest idea we’ve had so far.  The idea would be to clear out one side of the garage, put the SuperYard there to create an enclosed play space, and then you can head out there for “outdoor” playtime.  I worked last weekend to clean the garage to get it ready.  At the end of the night, I went to pull the plastic slide into the garage.  It’d been raining all day, though, so I picked it up and shook it vigorously to get the water off, then pulled it inside and began to work feverishly to dry it off so that it wouldn’t drain water out into the garage.  I spent a good 15 minutes on this, carefully wiping each surface, and underneath, an soaking up the puddles.  Good.  Mission accomplished.  The garage remained dry.

Satisfied, I grabbed the keys, stepped out of the garage to pull the cars in out of the rain, so they wouldn’t be frosted over in the morning.  I pulled them both in, closed the garage door, walked to the entryway into the laundry room, and then realized fully how much of an idiot I was.  <sigh>  15 minutes to dry off the play toy.  Then I pulled the cars in.  Seriously, will my mind come back some day?  This is starting to get scary…