Toddler busy time

Last night when hubby started making dinner, I had a plan. The toddler was content coloring and I was going to feed the baby so that I could actually eat my dinner hot without having to stop a dozen times for once. Then, I heard my hubby say “why is there so much water on the floor?” So, he starts pulling everything out of the cupboard and all over my kitchen floor. Meanwhile, I’m navigating the mine field he’s making to flip the bacon that he’s already put on the griddle. Turns out, it was the garbage disposal leaking and he had to make a trip to Lowe’s to replace it just then. So, I was left to make dinner and deal with the children on the one day I am supposed to have a bit of a break. Two minutes after he left, the baby started screaming, so I had to put her in her wrap and continued making dinner. Then, the toddler realizes that I’m making breakfast for dinner and she keeps saying “eat, eat” and fussing when I say she has to wait for daddy. So, I decided to try something. I had gotten some pipe cleaners and pony beads when I was at Michaels earlier in the day and they were still sitting on the kitchen counter. I opened both packages and put a few beads in a Tupperware and gave her that and a pipe cleaner.  I put one bead on the pipe cleaner to show her what to do and she got excited and started putting them on herself.  This kept her occupied for the next 15 minutes so I could finish making dinner. A word of warning, though, make sure you keep an eye on your child so that none of the beads end up in their mouth, or nose, or ears.  Also, be prepared to pick beads up off the floor.  It's inevitable. I kept hearing the ping, ping, ping the whole time I was cooking.  Although, there was another fun activity for her when she was done to go on a scavenger hunt to pick them all up after.