Pretend play to get us through.

[Pumpkin_Pie]

DS has been a handful lately to put it extremely mildly. I have been working nearly full time and he is having a very hard time being away from me so much. I have been yelling, and he has been hitting, spitting, calling names, throwing toys, etc, etc, etc. Tantrums are his m.o. lately and I seriously am not enjoying being a mama for the past few weeks.

Tonight, after being out at a friend's house for most of the day, which involved a lot of stress and scolding him for hitting his friends, stealing toys, throwing things at friends, hitting with sticks, etc, we came home to get ready for bed. He started pretending he was a baby kitty, and asked me to be the mama kitty. He wanted me to call him baby kitty for every thing that I said to him, so I played along, "Baby kitty, it is time to go get your kitty teeth brushed so that when you get big kitty teeth, they will be healthy and strong! Meow!" He not only ate it up, he completely cooperated in getting his teeth brushed, using the potty, going to bed, reading only one book, and he actually stayed in bed without so much as a peep and fell asleep. He hasn't had a night this easy in literally MONTHS.

I am sort of wondering if I need to play "kitty" every day all day long in order to have a happy, healthy relationship with my DS from now on. So strange, but I am so happy tonight!!!

[LynnS6]

Have you read Playful Parenting? If not, I highly recommend it!

Basically, 30 minutes a day of this kind of one-on-one play with my kids was crucial when they were this age. Letting them choose the game and lead the play helped them feel in control and connected. It's not a cure-all, but it sure does help!

[pianojazzgirl]

That's exactly how I re-connect with my kids when we need it (not only did I mean imaginary play like that, but more often than not it's actually mama cat and baby kitties, lol!). Even my 6 yr old needs this. It's amazing how that kind of play can help us get back to a better place when we've had a rough hour/day/week. I'm sure one reason it helps so much is that it helps snap me out of grumpy/impatient/sometimes yelling mama mode, and puts me in a more playful and happy mood.

[-Resque-]

We just played "Princess Bat" two nights ago to get us through the bedtime routine, and DSD is 7. She was busy building her batcave out of pillows on her bed when I left, and sound asleep when I checked on her later.

[omelette]

Imaginary play is huge over here; my son eats it up. And it has a huge impact on behaviour and getting things done too. Right now I'm finding it hard to muster up the energy to be on board with it all the time; even though I know it works it's hard.
I second the book Playful Parenting