One is a Lonely Number

Lego camp started today and with the two older boys signed up and raring to go I just had one little boy at home with me.

Evan was a bit lost today with his two older brothers gone.  He just wasn't sure what to do with himself.   Honestly, I am not used to having just one boy around either and was not used to having him underfoot.

Being the youngest he's not as adept at keeping himself busy and occupied.  He's always had a playmate around!

I knew I could use this time to help him become more independent but it's so rare that we get some quiet one- on- one time that I decided to just enjoy it.

We read books played board games together.

Knowing we had a whole week together I decided to brainstorm some ideas of activities we could do together; just the two of us:

• Read books.  We enjoy stories and with no one else around we can snuggle and read as much as we want.
• Put together some simple puzzles.  Evan is not a huge fan of puzzles but we do have some simple ones that would be great to work on together.
• Bake a treat!  I have a hard time encouraging my boys to help out in the kitchen when there is three of them around but with just one I think we could easily bake a few fun treats. 
• Build with blocks.  I am not great with imaginative play; so when my boys ask me to play with their people and cars and toys I usually say no.  However, I am a pretty good builder and together we could build something really great. 
• Play board games.  Evan often gets left out of games because his brothers tend to ask to play games that require skills he doesn't yet have.  We have plenty of games he could play but I rarely think to ask him if he'd like to play.  
• Go on a short outing!  Since camp is only a half day we can't take off for a day on our own but we could go to the park or a mini hike together.  
• Play a video game together.  We only have two controllers so Evan typically plays video games with his brothers but I do have some gaming skills and enjoy playing games like Mario and MarioKart.  
• Go kayaking.  I can fit Evan in my kayak with me and we could take off together for a relaxing paddle around the lake.

 As Evan and I were playing a board game I happened to look in the playroom and noticed a bunch of the kids fish toys all sorted out by color and type.  When I asked Evan about it he told me that him and Alec had done that this morning while playing!

Honestly the time just flew by this morning with only one little boy at home with me.

When we picked the boys up they were filled with stories and excited to share about their day.   They made trucks, airplanes, hangers and garages and  learned the differences between gear motors and pulley motors.  They just loved it.  Alec told me the only part he didn't like was cleaning up and leaving and wished it would have lasted all day!