This quarantine has made me realize many, many things. One of them is me realizing my 18 month old son’s toys are not encouraging him to learn.

These past 18 months we have been gifted and we have bought many toys for him. I am so thankful for all the wonderful toys he has received and he has definitely loved them all. 

Spending the majority of my time with Arian these past five weeks, I have realized that on any given day he only plays with about 10% of his toys!!! That means the majority of his toys are just taking up space and creating unnecessary mess throughout the house.

(Showing about half of his toys)

I know the importance of stimulating his brain and senses to encourage proper development. So many toys are constantly advertised as being able to boost a toddler’s brain. Sadly, many of them do not do that and may even lead to some delays. 

I am a big believer that not one size fits all. Some kids may do great with electronic toys and may actually learn a lot from them. Some others may not do so well and may need something different. 

Arian’s attention span is very short, as the majority of toddlers around his age are. Having so many toys to choose from on the daily becomes overwhelming and frustrating I am sure. He sometimes looks at all his toys and the only thing he does is throw them around the living room then moves on to play with something else, like my plant. 

I have decided it’s time to change things up and attempt something new. I have always known about Montessori and it’s benefits. After much research and deliberation I am taking a leap and changing his play area to a Montessori style play area!

Incorporating Montessori styled play involves offering your toddler an opportunity to develop their own capabilities. You give your toddler a chance to focus on one activity at a time, it is recommended that they do not have 6-10 toys/activities to choose from. After a few weeks/months you switch them around and introduce new (or in our case hidden) toys to you child. You do what is best for your little one and can adjust accordingly of course.

You also allow your child to choose their own activities. They are leading their play and do what they find most interesting. It's okay to encourage but never to force. I will go more into detail later on through our journey!

Some great reminders:

"Tell me and I will forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I will understand"
- Chinese Proverb

"Free the child's potential, and you will transform him into the world"
- Maria Montessori

I am excited to see how he will react and the new things he will learn! I am sure this might be hard at the beginning but I definitely think the end result will be well worth it. 

I will keep you posted on our journey and will continue  sharing more as the days go by! Let me know if you are currently doing Montessori or would like to try it out in the comments!

Enjoy your weekend 💕

Alright y’all, I’m officially in my fifth week working from home. I am not going to lie, it has not been easy!

At first when we were told we were going to start working from home, I didn’t think about it too much. I already do some work from home so I’m pretty used to it... or so I thought!

The first couple weeks were pretty rough. Our schedule was completely off. We have (or had) our daily routine and were pretty good about sticking to it. But now, with me being home 24/7 you already know I went off track!!!

You see, this wouldn’t be an issue if it was just me I had to worry about, if I could go to bed late and sleep in, or just readjust my schedule entirely. NOPE! This means my 18 month old Arian also went off schedule. And believe me, it was not pretty! 



As we were staying up late binge watching Netflix, our young one stayed up too. Of course, not thinking about it too much we didn’t think it was a big deal. A few days went by and next thing we know his schedule is completely off! 

Usual schedule: 
9 am - wake up and play
10 am - eat 
11-1:30 pm play 
1:30-3:30 - eat then nap 
3:30 - some more play 
6 pm - eat 
8 pm - bath time 
9 pm - bed time 
9:30 pm - 9 am - sleeping peacefully 

Quarantine schedule 
6 am - wake up and play (with an extra touch of energy)
8 am - eat
9 am - 12 pm - play time 
12:30 - eat 
12:30-2:30 - nap 
3 pm  eat 
3:30-7 - play 
7 pm - eat 
8 pm - bath time 
8 pm - midnight - play 
Midnight - 6 am - sleep and wake up at least 2 times 

This boy went from sleeping 13.5 hours in a day and sleeping through the night, to sleeping only 8 hours in a day and waking up at least twice at night!!!

And yes, yes! I know it’s our fault for not sticking to a schedule (something we’ve always been pretty good at). But come on, I think everyone has been off schedule with this whole situation! 

Finally, we are getting back on track (except today, as I am typing this at 11:37 pm trying to put him down). But it’s okay, it just takes consistency, patience and lots of love! 

I will be incorporating more Montessori style play starting next week and I am so excited ! I will be rearranging his “baby” play area into a toddler Montessori play area, so stay tuned for that! 

Thanks for reading friends! And remember, one day we will look back and hope we had another chance to spend more time with our little ones. So enjoy it while it lasts !!!!