[newmommy]

When I play with DS, somehow, *I* end up doing all the work. For example, he will give me a car (Oh! and he has to pick the car for me) and say "now, roll the car into the garage...no! not *that* way...*this* way!!"<br><br>
He just sort of watches me while he guides me along on what HE wants me to do. So, he's not actually playing, I'm actually playing *for* him.<br><br>
Anyone else go through this?

 

[TudoBem]

yes, we go through that with my 3 yo. he finds it much more entertaining to watch us. some of it may be that he thinks we "play" better, and some is just the passive entertainment factor. it's very annoying, though, especially as I don't even enjoy playing most of the things that 3 yo boys do. mine doesn't even direct me on what to do, though. he just wants to watch and see what i do.<br>
i'd be interested if anyone has any ideas on how to change this.

 

[annethcz]

Hhhmmm... nope, I've never had that happen. But then, I'm pretty direct with my kids. If they asked me to play and then told me how to do it, I'd speak up and say that I wanted to decide how my car drives (or whatever would be appropriate to the situation).<br><br>
Although to be honest, I don't often play with my kids. I do many things with them, but rarely play with them.

 

[LaLaLaLa]

I've found this with coloring and my 3 1/2 year old dd. She says she wants to color, so I set her up at the table with a coloring book and crayons. She wants me to color with her, which is fine since I LOVE to color. I sit down at the table next to her and we color together for, like, one minute. Then she moves her chair closer to mine and we continue. Another minute later and she has put down her crayons completely in order to watch me color.<br><br>
I find that I have to set her up with coloring and then walk away from the table; otherwise it becomes Mom's art project show. I hope she'll outgrow it, because I really would love to sit with her and do art projects side by side!

 

[timneh_mom]

Yes, my 3 year old is the same! He wants me to play with him but HE is CLEARLY in charge of the whole show! And, if we color, HE tells me what to color, or what to draw. I want HIM to do it, because it's good for his fine motor control... but HE wants ME to be the one drawing, and it has to be on his terms! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol">