Flavia Guarino

My Mummy is crying and she’s in bed.  I want her to play trains with me instead.  She’s tired and she can’t whistle “choo wooo.” What can I do? I’m feeling sad too.  I eat ice-cream with sprinkles.In my pyjamas I’m snug…

From the children’s book, Mummy, Let’s Go!

On those gloomy, wet and cold days at home with the little ones what are your favourite things to do? The things that keep them entertained for more than five minutes at a stretch and the mess is kept to a minimum. Things that you enjoy too…inexpensive rainy day treats!

  To beat the frustration and I guess depressing thoughts of a gloomy day at home, today. We painted–well that got really messy and by the time I started cleaning I noticed it was spreading faster than I was able to control the mess.

  Oh dear! those obsessive compulsive nigglings were surfacing. Just as I cleaned one spot, then I’d realised I needed to confiscate the paint brushes and plates. Then to my dismay it would spread even faster because…lo and behold four little hands are capable of spreading paint so much faster than two holding a paint brush each. A warm bath was then in order. Always lovely in the cool rainy weather. Followed by we made soup and my Nonna’s fried pizza bread (plain pizza dough rolled flat then shallow fried in olive oil then salted and cut into triangles) and some soup. A snuggly midday nap and yes the afternoon dwindles away with smudges of paint still lurking. I am okay with it too! But I’ll definately clean it tomorrow even in spite of all those peculiar people who like the term ‘neat freak’.

  I don’t know why being tidy holds such scorn. It’s uplifting to enter my home when to some extent it is clean and it’s relaxing just by being clean–not sterile, just tidy. Even more so because there have been so many times when cleaning was just impossible so on the other side of depression I count it quite a privilege to have a clean home. Something that I am quite grateful for. What do you think?

  Some of my favourite rainy day things to do with my boys are; making popcorn, dancing to some music, drawing with crayons, playdough, doing a puzzle together, read-along books in bed, playing bocce/ marbles, baking pancakes or biscuits to have with hot chocolate, making an obstacle course in the loungeroom, and bringing our Staffy Bella in…if she’s clean!

My all time favourite: buying a bulk pack of AA batteries and replacing all the batteries in those power draining toys- hours of fun!!