Raise your hand if you are reading this while standing over the kitchen counter, next to the stove, thinking about what you’re going to make for dinner tonight. Yup, that’s me! Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the word “village,” because back home in Nigeria, community isn’t something you have to actively schedule three weeks in advance, via your Gmail calendar; it just exists. You have the Grandparents, aunties, cousins, friends, and even neighbours. I mean…there is always an extra set of hands to hold your baby while you nap, or watch your toddler while you step out to buy something quickly, or even sit with you if you’re feeling isolated.
But raising three girls here in Germany? Haha, my village is a 6-hour flight away if you’re using Lufthansa and almost 10 hours if you’re using Air France. When my girls are sick, there is no one for me to call to drop off food. How about when I am completely exhausted? I can’t just give them over to grandma for an hour; it is literally just me, my husband, and our three beautiful, high-energy girls.
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When Survival Mode Sparks Creative Parenting
And tbh: the long German afternoons are the heaviest part of it all…I’m sure you know exactly the hour I’m talking about. That peak 3:00 PM hour when they’re asking for a snack for the one millionth time and, on top of that, the weather outside is grey and rainy (again) – yeah, that’s the one, so if you don’t have any plans for those long indoor hours, the whole apartment starts to feel really small.
Let me tell you something: I used to feel guilty about how tired I was because I thought I had to be that mum who set up learning activities every day, but it was less about that and more about survival. When you live like I’m living, you automatically become creative, especially when you don’t have a village. Your sanity has to come from somewhere, and for me, that meant embracing low-prep activities. I started realising that my daughters didn’t need hours of setup, but an invitation to explore.
The 2-Minute Pompom & Whisk and Paper Cup Routine
Take, for example, this week – when my brain was so heavy from running my blog, staying relevant on Instagram, and trying to make Pinterest affiliate marketing work for me, I deployed this quick setup for my three daughters that cost me almost nothing and took less than 5 minutes to set up.
- Supplies Needed: A standard kitchen whisk, multi-coloured pompoms, safety clothespins, and paper cups.
- The setup for my toddler: I stuffed the pompoms in the kitchen whisk, gave her a clothespin and guided her hand to pinch and pull the pompoms out one by one. If you’re wondering what benefits this brings, this is amazing for fine motor skills and finger strengthening!
- The Setup for my older girls: I scattered pompoms all over our dining table, gave them two paper cups each and told them to scoop up the pompoms and put them back into the storage box. And not to kid you or anything, but my girls spent about 45 minutes completely engrossed in the activities…Keep reading to know how.
And if you’re looking to grab a set for your table layouts, these are the exact jumbo pompoms we use in our house
Why Open-Ended Play Materials Are a Lifesaver
The trick was that the supplies I gave them (The whisk, the pompoms, the clothespin and the paper cups) were open-ended. So after they were done with the play ideas I offered them…they carried on doing their own thing with the random kitchen drawer items. The paper cups and the pompoms turned into ice cream, then became a colour-sorting station, then turned into pouring the pompoms into cup A, cup B and cup C, and then blowing the pompoms off the table with a straw in their mouths. So from one activity, it just kept leading into another, then another and another, and boom, 45 minutes were gone.
And me? I sat on the couch with my tub of ice cream, as the ice cream lover that I am – and since it was a really hot day, it was the perfect cool-down snack for me…but of course, I was supervising them from a distance, but I was actually breathing. So if you’re raising children far from the people who would’ve happily stepped in, I hope this gives you permission to give yourself a breather and make play simpler, because your children don’t need heavy setups, but their mama or papa who still has something left in their tank.
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