How to Cook Dinner with a Clingy Toddler

My son has always been a delight in my life. Even when he was a clingy toddler and it was time to make dinner, and he really wanted Mommy's attention... now! Not Daddy. Mommy.

I always found that made it really hard for me to cook.

It's something many a parent has dealt with as children are raised. Trying to pass the kids off to the parent not in the kitchen (assuming you're not home alone with the kids) can be a real challenge. Here's how I sometimes coped.

Get supplies out to make dinner. Pick son up and show him what was going to be made. Answer half-clear questions about whatever catches his interest.

Try to put son down. Calm his tears as he insists he just wants Mommy. Try to disentangle his arms so that you can get cooking. Settle for him clinging to one leg as you prepare the food for cooking.

Decide having a child clinging to your leg is not a good idea when you're actually cooking the food. Try to distract him with a favorite toy. No go.

Pull lettuce out of the fridge and announce that you'll be having a salad with dinner. Set up a place for toddler to tear up lettuce and wash his hands. It doesn't really matter that you'll be eating a combination of almost whole leaves and microscopic lettuce particles, does it?

Toddler tires of lettuce and wants to help you cook. Tries to open oven. Fortunately, you're cooking on the stove top tonight. Remove him from the kitchen.

Back he comes. Pry him off your leg again and set up a stool for him to watch from a safe distance. He's not happy, but you can reach him and give a pat or a hug as needed. Give him the lettuce again and suggest that he could tear the leaves smaller. Watch as more microscopic portions are removed.

He wants to help mooooore! Ideally by stirring that nice pot of boiling water you have there. Time to find another toddler-safe job! Have him watch you chop more vegetables for the salad, and let him throw those in. Just keep the knife well away from those eager little fingers! And don't underestimate a toddler's ability to stretch.

Finish cooking dinner as fast as is reasonable. Hope he stays distracted long enough.

Time to set the table. Another thing clingy toddlers love to help with. Thank goodness for forks, spoons and any toddler-safe dishes you may choose to use. Allow him to help and ignore the many fingerprints his previously clean hands leave all over the place. Dirt appears to be magnetically attracted to toddlers. Hope that the salad is reasonably sanitary.

Call the rest of the family in for dinner. Hope that you get more than two bites in before your toddler demands that he be allowed to eat his dinner on your lap rather than in his chair.

Be grateful that your toddler loves you so much, even as you look forward to a little break after the kids are in bed.

Toddler Birthday Party Tips - Fun Without Tearing Your Hair Out

This article has some tips to make any toddler birthday party as easy as possible to organise. Everything here is tried-and-tested advice that really works.

General Tips

Make it as easy or as hard as you want to. Never feel pressurised into some over-the-top party if you don't feel like it. It is easy to impress a toddler, and you are the one who creates the expectations that they will have about it.

1st birthday party celebrations don't mean a thing to the child - so make it your celebration of the first amazing year  with your little one. Don't feel obliged to have a party at all - a trip to the zoo might be more fun

2nd birthday parties are not likely to mean much to the child either - you can definitely still dispense with the party altogether. Remember that tantrums and so forth are at a peak at this age. If you do invite other children, go for less rather than more. 2-year-olds are quite happy without any organised games.>

By their 3rd birthday, toddlers have more idea what is going on and will probably have been to a couple of parties. Some organised games are  appropriate, but make sure that the kids have free play time as well - a 3-year-old cannot cope with 2 hours of games.

Hiring a village hall or community center is a cheap solution to possible behavior (and mess) problems. Boisterous toddlers behave far better in a more  spacious venue, far away from your furniture and carpets!

Party Games

Party Games should be non-competitive - children this young cannot cope with them. You can still play musical statues and other similar games, but alter them so the children are never out. Instead, everyone has a go each time for the fun of it.

Spread games out. A good idea is to have free play for a while at the start, then one or two group games, then free play, followed by  a couple more activities. This is easier for both you and the children to cope with.

Get the guests to bring things to play with. If you have the space, ask people to bring ride-on toys. They are a great way to use up all that  excited energy, and there will be less arguments over who goes on what.

Party Food

Simple finger food is the order of the day - forget jelly and ice cream. Sandwiches, pizza, crackers, breadsticks and cupcakes are easy to prepare and popular. It's worth asking on the invites whether any of the children have vegetarian or other special restrictions. Small portions are all that your highly exciteable party animals will require!

Prepare and put onto individual plates each toddler's party meal before the party. This is one of the most important toddler birthday party tips.  -  you will have more than enough to do leading the games. In fact, delegate the food preparation to someone else! Don't serve too much either.