Surviving Our Income Tax Appointment

It's Income Tax Time! My husband and I have always gone into an office to get our taxes done just in case something goes wrong or we fill out something the wrong way. This post is about how we took our 5 and 2 year olds into an office and how they behaved well in a cubicle for our appointment that lasted an hour and a half: 

1. We Prepared Before-Hand: Whenever there is a chance for me to print off forms and fill them out at home, I do. The Tax Office told us what forms to fill out and what documents to bring with us when we called to set up our appointment. I found all the things I needed and once I filled out the forms, I put them all into an accordion file. 

All of our papers were safe from the rain and kids in this folder

2. We Brought Quiet Activities: I have done a few posts on all the quiet time activities I have for my kids (link here to Ultimate Busy Bag Post). I brought our Restaurant Kit (link Here) with us as well as some small blocks and this V-Tech Tablet my youngest got for his birthday but it also helps my oldest with his letters and numbers. Most of the time my youngest sat in my husband's lap coloring and eating while my oldest sat playing with the V-Tech toy, then the blocks on the floor since he decide the blocks needed to fall down after he built a tower with them. 

Our Restaurant Kit, V-Tech tablet toy and blocks

3. We Had Snacks: Snacks are the #1 thing that keep our 2 year old from having meltdowns every minute! We always have packed with us: a sippy cup with half juice/half water, fruit snacks, some type of cookie and some type of cracker. This time we almost brought extra cereal in a snack container, mini water bottle, mini juice bottle, cereal bars and extra fruit snacks. 

This is not all we took with us, there was a lot more! This was all that was left!

4. When All Else Failed, We had the Tablet with Headphones and Movies: I don't know where my husband got this headphone splitter years ago but it helps us out so much! I brought their headband headphones (LOVE THESE!!), Tablet and tablet stand. We ended up not needing this until the very end. My youngest was okay watching a movie after he got tired of sitting on my husband's lap while my oldest sat on the floor building with the blocks.

Headband headphones, headphone splitter and tablet stand. My oldest has his tablet for nap time right now.

5. Mommy's Secret Weapon! I didn't end up needing this Secret Weapon but I had it stashed away in my purse in the event I needed to calm or bribe one or both kids to behave. It works every time! 

We did it! We got through our appointment with one meltdown from each kid but it was quickly resolved by a snack or new activity! No one had to go to the car or take a kid home, no one got stressed out and no weird looks from anyone so I would call today's appointment a success! 

Happy Mommy-ing!