How to get stuff done

I need tips on getting things done whilst your toddler is awake. As you will see from my other thread a certain little boy is no longer napping and I use the evenings to study or sleep so I need to know how to do things when he is up.
I get him to help with some things but is difficult with others, any tips would be great.

He's helping me at the moment by smacking the vacuum with a wooden spoon

Harry 'helps' by carrying things back and forth, and yeah sometimes it makes more mess but usually it's mess that doesn't take too much to clean up (ie taking all the cloths one by one out of the drawer). This afternoon I set him up with luke warm water and bubbles in the sink, and some plastic stuff to 'wash', while I loaded the dishwasher and just tidied up. It kept him busy for ages and even got the floor washed too

He also helps unloading the dishwasher, I take all the sharp things out of the cutlery basket thing and he takes the other cutlery out one by one and puts them in the drawer.

Or I often do stuff while he's feeding himself breakfast or lunch, cos he can't move from the highchair and is happy if he's got some fruit to eat (i like giving him a whole nectarine cos it takes longer to eat and he loves it).

Oh and if I ever want to go on the comp when he's awake, like Tom, Harry wants to use it too. But I've found the best solution - I open 2 windows side by side, and in one of them I play the old school sesame street songs off youtube, while I can catch up on stuff in the other window. Keeps him happy for ages.

We do have a lot of 'helping' that involves banging things with sticks/wooden spoons/shakers though

Seems we mostly do what you guys do. Spencer loves helping with the dishwasher, although sometimes he is trying to close it before I've had a chance to take out/ put in anything. He loves the washing machine as well but then sometimes instead of putting the clothes in it he runs of with the dirty laundry.

The worse thing I find is trying to do anything in the kitchen because he thinks that if I'm in the kitchen he should be allowed crackers and stands at the cupboard banging his hands on it saying "cracker cracker cracker", the only time he doesn't do that is when I'm doing stuff with the dishwasher or when we are baking as he helps with that.

Sometimes he wants to get on the computer with me and other times he isn't fussed, he's in the study with me now but he is annoying the dogs through the ranch slider, he's doing his "I'm in the house, your outside, haha' dance.

Yeah I let him play in the tupperware drawer and he also gets in one of the cupboards but can only reach the steamer so spreads the bits for that all round the house which I don't mind him doing as I never use it anyway...lol.
I also bought some fridge magnets today so they kept him amused for a bit.

Urgh don't you just hate that fly dung stuff, really pisses me off.

busymum wrote: Let him wash plastic dishes in a bucket on the kitchen floor or blow up some balloons for him to amuse himself with while you do other pottering around.

I'm crap scared of balloons He had one the other day that the nurse gave him and I spent all afternoon cringing waiting for it to pop, which it did in the end cos he kept squeezing it.

I like the bucket idea though, will try that out.

Unfortunately I would have to send him to the UK for the grandparents to look after him, bit extreme just to clean the house....lol

He had a huge catch up nap today so was able to do some bits then. Think I will just have him help and then things I can't get done with his help I will do whilst he is helping daddy If he does a catch up nap every few days that will help heaps.

Also got the bubble blower out today, was very good at distracting him for a bit.