This may be a silly question, but hear me out. I have had an 8-5 (with an hour commute on either end, so 7-6) job since before LO was born. We typically are all finally home for the day around 615 and it is another couple of hours before bed time. We basically have enough time to change, eat, play for a little while, and then she goes to bed.

But my schedule has changed slightly and now, one day a week, I'm home early with her, around 4, so we have nearly double the time to spend together than we usually do on a weeknight. It will only be this way for another month, but I want to make it count.

I thought about taking that time to go the gym, but that defeats the whole point if I'm just going to dump her in childcare again when I don't have to.

I don't know what to do with all the time! I kind of have anxiety about it, haha. It isn't enough time to really go do anything substantial, but it is such a long stretch of time for us to be hanging around the house unstructured. Idle time is the devil's play thing for both of us (we get cranky/engage in bad behaviors) so I'm wondering what you do in the afternoons during the week if you frequently have 4+ hours. I am so happy to have this extra time with LO after years of barely seeing her during the week, so I feel like I want to maximize it if at all possible with something fun/uplifting for both of us.