Teddy vs. Target

The art of playing in Tar-jay.

Before we had Teddy I remember telling Zach that moms must use Target as an indoor playground on days that are too crappy for be outside. I would go to Target on a rainy day in the middle of the day and it would be me and a dozen moms following their children around the store. Some in carts eating snacks, some just running around, some reading books. I remember how funny and cute I thought it was and Zach saying how some day that would be me. Little did we know ...

We are lucky to live in an urban area with a plethora of great indoor kids activities. Soft play rooms, tot gyms, all sorts of things for energy expenditure all within walking distance of our house. But one of the best indoor play spaces is Target. And on days that are less than desirable for outdoor play (take today for example, 30-something with 25 mile per hour winds) we make the barely mile long drive and go buck wild.

You may ask why I take Teddy to Target if we have all of these awesome recreation centers and play gyms so close by. It seems a bit silly at first glance but I promise after reading this, you too will be taking your kids to Target for some fun.

There are the "Teeze" as Teddy calls the Cheeze-Its. He'll do just about anything for the salty goodness of "Teeze," which he doesn't get at home. This includes sit in the cart for a bit while mamma looks through the dollar bins.

Anyone who has met my child or just witnessed him in action knows that he has never met an alley, sidewalk or straightaway that he didn't like. The kid likes to run, and run he does. At breakneck speed. Constantly. Target was built for this. Aisles upon aisles of free running. Sometimes he grabs a truck and gets some resistance training in, too. I'm all for the added work. Anything to wear this kiddo out.

It's not a trip to Target if you don't make your way to the toy section. These days we mainly stay in the trucks/trains/cars aisles. Just taking trucks down and pointing to different parts of dump trucks and diggers, rolling cars on the floor, oohing and ahhing over the characters from Cars.

My job often is to "hold this." Today I was instructed to hold all of the Max, Gidget, and Snowballs (characters in The Secret Life of Pets for those who have not been fortunate enough to watch the movie 25,000 times). I tried to put them down as Teddy was playing with a truck but was instructed under no circumstance were they to leave my arms. So I sat.

Target is not all fun and games, nope.

The vitamin section is a great place to work on motor skills. Teddy enjoys stacking the vitamin containers, and putting them away, then taking them back out. I even get to work on my motor skills by picking up what he leaves behind.

The grocery section is a great place to work on naming fruits and veggies and working on colors. Also, a great place to make sure your little one knows what mommy's favorite ice cream is, something every child should know early on (Ben & Jerry's Vegan Coffee Caramel Fudge over here).

Go find the ball aisle and get in a little game of "throw the ball in that direction" or "kick the ball over here." Teddy's current favorite ball-related-game is "throw the ball up and hit my own head." #superadvanced

Keep in mind these types of trips to target are not meant to be shopping centered trips. That would just drive you crazy. Focus on the fun, let your kiddo TEAR IT UP, and come back without them later on.

And finally, where else can you get a rolling cage to contain your child while you get a few things done? Stick a couple trucks in there and I am golden for 3-5 minutes. That's enough time to pick out a new dry shampoo or grab some under eye concealer.

Have I convinced you yet that Target should be on your top 3 list of places to go on a rainy day? No? Well how about this, I took in a crazed 21 month old boy. I took out a yawning boy who rested his head on my shoulder.