I Don't Feel Like Playing with DD - Page 2

[July09Mama]

Can you find any podcasts or books on tape to listen to while you play? I'm not sure how that would work with an older kid, but with my 15 month old who doesn't talk much, I can usually listen to something while sitting on the floor building towers for her to knock over. I agree, it can be monotonous!

[Bebe's Mom]

I play with my DD, but only when she asks me to...she is just getting into her shape sorter, so I help her with that, and I read books when she brings them to me...I also get down on the floor and rough house with her, or play "chase". She gets bored too, sometimes, especially when it is raining and she is stuck inside. I also have a neighbor with a son her age and we go over there and the kids play while we talk. She also helps me with the laundry. She is only 13 months, so there aren't many chores she can help with yet, but I am sure she will be washing dishes and folding laundry with the best of them soon!! If you can get DD to play quietly while you rest, then you are doing ok. You don't need to play with her 24/7! I am sure being pregnant with twins is tiring enough. Also, she needs to get used to playing on her own now, because when those babies come, you are not going to have as much time as you do now!!

[SilverFish]

mine is only 8 months, but i usually let her play by herself for a chunk of time, and will continue as she gets older. the things i think we'll probably do together? art (but because i'm an artist and will take any opportunity to play with crayons!) and cooking, and maybe some building stuff, cause i find it fun too. i even have a pretty extensive bakground in child development and have played with kids as part of my job, and enjoyed it, but i still don't find it necessary to be my dd's playmate.

my mom never played with us. she was there if we needed ideas or someone to explain our stories too, but she never got involved in our actual play (more than once or twice that i recall). that would have seemed really weird to me! i think the only one of us she ever really actively played with was my youngest sister, but she has developmental delays, so a lot of that was more therapy related. even then, as soon as she could walk and get around by herself, she was out playing with us, and my mom went back to doing whatever it was she did all day!

[NellieKatz]

Originally Posted by meemee

because soon they are going to 'grow up' and you wont be needed as a playmate. and you would so like to be one.

So true. Whenever I hear that Harry Chapin song "Cats in the Cradle" it makes me cry. Like, in the middle of the aisle at Target (why do they always play that song in the store?) These times with our little ones are so precious. Don't get me wrong--sometimes the playing that my son wants me to do with him makes my eyes want to bleed with the sheer boredom of it. And I find all sorts of reasons not to after a while. But that song, that song....it brings me back to that truth. These times are so precious and so fleeting it can crush your heart.

So if you can find a balance, and make sure that there are enough times when you are getting YOUR needs met, then you'll have better luck being fully present for play with your own child.

[Xerxella]

Alright, don"t flame me for this, but feel free to take charge of the play sometimes. Lead it your way into things that are more interesting to you. Admittedly, I get bored to tears, running thomas around.and.around.and.around the track with no purpose. But, I do like building the tracks and my son likes having the storm come through and ruin the track. So, thjat's what we do, but of course, sometimes we just go around and around and around.