Entertain your kids when you're out of energy

Get their om on and you’ll get yourself some downtime.

Styling: Amit Gajwani; Hair and Makeup: Sylvester Castellano for Bernstein and Andriulli; Models: Talia Rinab/Wilhelmina Kids; Aidan Foley/Wilhelmina Kids. On Aidan: Appaman Blue Long-Sleeve T-Shirt, Old Navy Cargo Pants; On Talia: Appaman Yellow Long-Sleeve T-Shirt, Old Navy Gray Shiny Leggings.

Moms and Dads all over the country may think they’re just as tired as New York City parents are, but who are they kidding? They have minivans. We have to walk from preschool to the park to storytime and back home. We wander the streets with bags under our eyes as large as the ones hanging over our strollers, chugging supersize lattes just to keep from nodding off in the middle of Mommy & Me.

We also jam more into our day: working crazy hours to pay for private school and piano lessons; helping our third-graders with homework loads that would knock out a grad student; hitting the gym at 6am to offset those Crumbs cupcakes that our kids beg for and then don’t finish. And that’s on top of the universal 2am wake-up call for apple juice. It’s a wonder we don’t all end up collapsed in a snoring heap in the middle of Central Park.

So how do you cope when you’re so exhausted, all you want to do is conk out on the sofa with this month’s Real Simple and HBO but your children, those reservoirs of energy, want to play? We combed the city and consulted with some very sleepy parents to find the best ways to entertain your kids when you don’t have any energy to spare.

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