Struggling with 2 1/2yr olds needing one on one attention

[mofnah]

I have a 3 year old boy, and two 19 month girls. I work part time from home (mornings) and care for the kids after their nap. My wife cares for them in the morning and works when they go down for nap.

Our family recently came down with COVID (my wife and I are negative and the kids will be tested by the pediatrician tomorrow). We've been on our own for a while. The girls were born in the pandemic so all they know is home life really.

Right now all 3 kids are fighting colds with Mr L (3) and Miss B (1.5) have it the worst. Both girls are complete opposites with Miss B being the calm cuddler and Miss V (1.5) being the rambunctious climber.

Over the last few weeks both girls have gotten really clingy and both want to be held and cuddled constantly. I wish I could go back to the time when they both fit in my arms! But right now they just fight and cry if the other is getting attention. Even if I'm able to get both of them settled on me (with their plushies) I have to get up frequently to take care of Mr L, which starts the whole process again.

I do what I can with video calls daily to family to help with missing face to face time. I read books constantly to them (another fight to get all 3 to be able to see the book).

Honestly I'm purely exhausted with caring for my household and cooking/sending meals to the sick family.

How do I get these girls to be ok with me being with the other one? Mr L is very independent and usually all 3 play great together but with the recent bug it's been very difficult.

Any advice is welcome!!

 

[mashal]

@mofnah I follow Busy Toddler on insta, and I swear she has posts on guiding kids to independent play but I can’t find it now. She also has great activity ideas that can help engage toddlers, if only for a few minutes of peace. Big Little Feelings is also really helpful.

Also - I’m so confused about the age of your twins. Your title led me to believe they are 2.5, but then your first sentence made me think there are two of them at .5, but then parenthetically you say they are 1.5. ??

 

[mofnah]

@mashal I'm sorry for the confusion, the girls are 19 months old, maybe that would have been a better way to phrase it. Thank you for the ideas! I've been doing some Montessori activities and having Mr L do as much as he can with helping cook and clean.

Turns out all 3 have COVID... That explains a lot of what's been happening the last few weeks. Miss B is taking the sickness the hardest of them.

 

[mofnah]

Turns out they all have COVID! Explains all the issues that have popped up suddenly over the last two weeks.

I'm very exhausted from this all. I hope they get better soon...

 

[davidwoler]

@mofnah If you have a backyard, go outside. Bundle them all up if it’s cold, but go outside! It’s an instant calm.

 

[mofnah]

@davidwoler I had to bring them to the doctor this morning (all 3 have COVID....) So we had some nice time at the park after the tests. I don't really have a yard but I do try to get them out when I can. I have tons and tons of winter layers from family members with kids haha.