I have said this before and I will say it again, my son is bored of me. That's not to say he doesn't love his cuddles and kisses etc but he needs more stimulation than just me. I'm a big fan of my son interacting with other kids and learning how to play, make friends and share. Whilst like Bunmi I'm not going out of my way to make my son's day magical, he's too young for me to expect him to entertain himself for long periods of time.
I work two days a week so I have been aiming to make sure the three days we get together are full enough that he's getting active time and more importantly, out of the house especially with the weather we have been having.
Mondays I have found the most difficult to fill but it does work out well keeping it free for playdates. I don't know what it is about people who run classes but it's almost like they all hate working Mondays and have collectively decided there will be no classes.
I'm trying to keep the kind of activities we do as relevant to my son and his personality as possible. Whilst he loves story time, he only loves it with his nearest and dearest so taking him to a story reading is out of the question. The same applies for music classes - loves instruments at home but not for extended periods of time nor will he sit down and sing. That being said, he loves to be sung to and will clap graciously for you when you have finished (even if you sound awful).
I'm sure I have probably mentioned when my son was first born we signed him up to swimming classes, unfortunately the classes we chose had a waiting list but they were apparently great so we patiently waited till it was his turn. He finally got a place after 4 months. What I will say is that I wish we never waited and just took him ourselves, also some classes cost the earth and are just not worth the gimmicks. This was one of them. Needless to say my son refused to let go of his daddy every time he saw the water. He would partake in the class but would be silent throughout, no smile, no frown, literally no expression at all. That was not like him at all and when it came to the underwater photoshoot at the end of the course, we got a call a couple of days before from the teacher to say they didn't think he was ready and that it wouldn't be worth our time for the shoot so we never went back again. Let's just say when you watch youtube videos of babies underwater they usually float right? Not my son - straight to the bottom. A word of warning which I wish I would have known sooner - when babies are relatively new (after month one but before month three) they absolutely love the water as it reminds them of their previous home. After that you get my son's reaction till they're a bit older unless you really really persevere but to me that seems cruel.
The one class my son consistently loved was his sensory classes but unfortunately from about 11 months old he decided it was no longer for him as he was less interested in participating and only wanted to pull himself up and walk around the room. The woman who took the class was absolutely fantastic, she was enthusiastic and great at what she was doing. Well worth every penny we paid. Proof was in the long waiting list for her class (there are never waiting lists for paid classes over £5 a session). When we finished our last session my husband said she's ruined classes for you now and lo and behold, we've not found another class like it since.
We have been for two "gymnastics" sessions at the local leisure centre - basically a more expensive softplay with gymnastics equipment and lacking in any structure or guidance. One taster session of the toddler version of sensory class - involved too much sitting down and the teacher used her phone more than necessary. Five sessions of a national franchise gymnastics class (one class taken at 11 months but I couldn't afford the class - they only hand you the paperwork after the taster and annual membership is compulsory and the other four in the last few weeks). He loved it when we went for the first taster but I needed to save up. We then went to another taster a month ago and it was a short term so I signed him up. It was like the swimming classes all over again. I took him week after week expecting him to want to climb or bounce on something but it never came. Extremely out of character for my son. I have emailed a woman about a dance class - a week later, still no response. I have called, still no response. I hate people that don't have the decency to say I got your message and will respond back by the end of the week or something. You're not that busy. I emailed a football class I wanted to sign him up to to be told they had changed the minimum age to 2 so I would have to try again when he's older.
Where I have been successful is finding a local playgroup on netmums. It's a mere £1 per session in a local church, they have loads of toys and they give the parents tea and biscuits as well as a non compulsory sing song and story session. Better still is that it runs for more than an hour which is perfect for my son as an hour is never long enough (all of the extortionate classes are 50mins long) and he absolutely loves it there. He runs around from room to room trying loads of toys out, stands in the middle of the singing circle clapping and dancing and doesn't cling to me. Just the way I'm used to him being at home.
I can't believe I can't find any suitable classes that might encourage a skill for my son but I'm sure that just like with the playgroup, I just need to have some patience and do a little more research.
Pet peevs looking for a class:
- people that don't come back to you for weeks/ever when you enquire about a class
- teachers of franchises that are clearly only doing the class for the money
- so much structure that it's practically a bootcamp for children
- no structure or format for a class at all
- the price of franchise classes
Things I've loved about the classes we've done:
- having a teacher so inspiring and enthusiastic, you question whether you're paying her to entertain you too
- seeing my son's face when he's introduced to something new he likes
- when the teacher remembers my son's name
- being shown new ways of doing things with my son
- having my son be comfortable enough to dance to the songs without holding onto me
~AB~
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