[Mrs-Mama]

Hi! Never posted in this forum before

I SAH with my 18 mo DS. We play/do activites all day (between naps, of course) and then sometimes he likes to do activities by himself. Typically in the late afternoon while I'm cooking, he plays by himself, comes in and out of the kitchen, and is generally pleasant (not clingy at all).

Then, when DH comes home, our barking dog alerts DS and he runs to the front door to wait for Daddy to come in...smiling, laughing, squealing with delight. But then suddenly he just wants me...wants to be held by me. Not terribly convenient since I'm now putting the finishing touches on dinner.

This has just started in the last few weeks. I'm assuming he must be going through a "mama" phase, but I don't get why he's so adamant about being held instead of just doing his own thing or letting DH play with him.

Anyone else experience this?

 

[apmama2myboo]

is it possible the barking of the dog is setting him off into kind of startle mode? other than that, they all go thru phases like that. right now my 3 1/2 yo dd refuses to let her daddy read to her because "mama does it better" and he does it "wrong" although i'm not sure what that is about. LOL. I know it gets frustrating especially when you're at the end of doing something, like making dinner or dishing it up. maybe it would help for you to put him in his booster or whatever with a cracker around the time daddy gets home, instead of free-range? being up and able to see things at a higher level might help him feel more comfortable. other than that, no idea. hope it's just a phase for you

 

[tallanvor]

I think it's just a phase. My kids have all gone through a phase where only mommy would do or only daddy would do. I remember for awhile my son would never give me a kiss goodnight, but would always give Andrew one. But I had to be the one putting him to bed.

Crystal

 

[LeahC]

My son is also 18 months old and just started doing the same thing. He loves his daddy like no other. He points to my husband's pictures all day long and says "daddy".

However, the minute my husband walks in the door, my son suddenly becomes shy. He will smile like crazy at my husband, but he won't go over to him. He will either hang with me or continue playing with whatever he was playing with.

Then after 5 minutes or so, he will say "daddy!!" and run to my husband and give him a big hug and kiss.

What can you say? Kids can be weird, man!

*I mean this in the best possible way!*

 

[ellacy]

every.day.

dd is 2y3m and has just recently been more receptive to Daddy's homecoming. And all day, she is excited to talk about him. But, when he walks in the door, it's cling to me. And I don't ask her to be held by him or play in another room - just all of us be in the same room together.

It used to take hours for her to really warm up to him, but now, it's less than an hour!

We visit dh at work at least 1x/mo so she can get a reference as to what 'work' means.