I’m finally coming up for some air.. It’s been a week!
I never wanted to be that parent who complains their kids are on vacation- but boy is it hard to entertain a toddler 24/7 for 10 days. This got me thinking maybe some of you are going through the same, or simply want some inspo on what to do. So here are some of the things that kept my kid entertained during his “vacations”
Dance Classes: you will be. surprised but they are everywhere and they do accept young kids, if you push them. My son ended up taking Mexican Folkloric dancing and hip-hop and loved it. I haven’t found a Latin dancing class for kids under 5 but if you are in LA this place had a cute baby hip-hop class, the folkloric Mexican class is at Marine park at 6:15 on Tuesdays (5 years and up). If you want ballet this place is supposed to be great in Santa Monica. Other worthy mentions from friends are DCDANCELA in Weho, DanceforKids in Brentwood & PetiteFeetDance in EagleRock.
Children's Museums are always a good idea - especially when kids able to play by themselves. The Cayton in Santa Monica + Kidspace in Pasadena are great options.
Real Grownup Museums are always GREAT too, specially because is something you can also enjoy + they tend to have weekly activities for kids too, so check online beforehand to know when to go.
City day - kids love to be out and about. Since we don’t have much of a walking culture living in LA, I took my kids to Venice Beach for the day and they loved it! We got some snacks, watched some kids skateboard, went to the beach for a bit, and overall just walked around just people watching. Another great option is Little Tokyo, its soooo fun to go there with the kids. +The farmers market is great too, buys you at least 2 hours of fun + grocery shopping.
Fairs - Blame it on American TV shows, but I love a fair, i love the games, the candy, the cotton candy, the carrousels just not so much the scary games but I have a baby and a toddler, so I am not there yet. This weekend we went to the Malibu one and had the best time- on until tomorrow, so there’s still time to go, A couple of weeks ago we went to the classic Santa Monica Pier with friends that were visiting, and it was also a hit.
Puzzles - my saving grace whenever I needed to stay home or entertain my kid while I was on a call.
Botanical gardens - in this family we love flowers, so any excuse to go see flowers is as good as any. The Pasadena Botanical Garden is a dream. There’s a small museum there too, + a restaurant - so it can definitely be a full day activity.
Cooking Classes - if you, like me, can’t wait for your kid to become an excellent cook to eventually feed you this activity is for your family. Little Kitchen Academy classes start at 2 years , and are a blast.
Palisades Village mall has some free cute kid activities, definitely worth registering for their newsletter if you are on this side of town ( or in LA for that matter)- the book readings are a hit with my kids. Speaking of books, not the most kid-friendly but the Last Bookstore Downtown is worth a visit,
Movies - I get that it’s not mom approved but sometimes you need to be in AC, and zone out while your kid can be entertained for 2 hours. I took my toddler to see “Inside Out 2” and he loved the experience. Cinespia is having a tribute for Paul Reubens aka Pee Wee Herman Sept 14th - which also looks like a lot of fun- so we will be checking it out
As much “fun” as vacations are we all know they come to an end. So here comes school!!!!!
I did a little edit of fun things for kids HERE. That being said, we all know these outfits are wishful thinking, so I might have to do another one for Amazon finds that won’t hurt your eyes but you won’t mind your kid destroying. Regardless every kid needs this jacket, these tabi sneakers are everything and are almost sold out, and I need these pants for myself but haven’t lost enough weight to fit into kid sizes (yet)
I grew up going to school with a uniform, and honestly even though I had to personalize it - I love the idea of not having to worry about what I was going to wear daily. This got me thinking about how my style had changed since becoming a mom, and what my mom uniform was to begin with- especially since I refuse to normalize wearing workout outfits as real clothes.
Then I saw this picture of Amanda Chantal Bacon and it kinda hit me - this is a quintessentially cool mom outfit. Someone who isn’t trying, but also has not let go of herself due to motherhood. Sporty but Chic and feminine and relaxed.
The outfit has lived rent-free in my head for a week, so much so that I did a whole SHOPPABLE EDIT around it.
I will be writing a newsletter about MOM UNiFORMS for next week but in the meantime, I wanted to leave you with the link before things sell out. And 2 pairs of shoes already did … so get these , or these before they sell out. Also, can we talk about how perfect this shirt is? This dress just went on sale, so RUN. And if you are looking for an investment day bag LOOK NO FURTHER. Anyway, more to come next week.
Last but not least I launched my website Zillion Trillion, basically a lifestream of the parenting stuff I see, read, write, shop, and curate all in one place.
Let me know what you think!
Besos,
Victoria
Ps: I am ESL so sorry in advance for my grammar mistakes.
Love this! As a working mom (from home) and SAHM the rest of the time, my toddler is home and with me most days non-stop 🙃. So definitely going to be using some of your suggestions!