Are you your child's playmate?
Categories: Kids 5-7, Fun & activities
Ellie is an only child. Other than two cats and a dog, she's the only little one in the house. Because she has no siblings, I have always tried to teach her the importance of enjoying her own company. Even if she had a live-in playmate, I still think she should be able to entertain herself at times.
She's not very good at this. If she can't find a friend to come over and play, she looks to me to join in her games. Sometimes I really enjoy getting on the floor and playing with her. I like to do crafts and draw pictures. But sometimes the idea of playing school, store or "Barbie goes to the mall with all her friends and has a dance contest" makes me want to pull out my hair. It's boring. So very boring.
Lately, she likes to pretend that she is an animal in a pet store. Not a dog or cat, but a Collector's Edition Baby Koala Bear. She is such a special bear that customers are fighting over who will be allowed to purchase her. I am a customer, of course. I try to remember that she will only be this young for a short time and soon she won't include me in her games. But as I am on my hands and knees begging the Koala bear to pick me, I often wonder if other parents are doing this. Are you your child's playmate?
She's not very good at this. If she can't find a friend to come over and play, she looks to me to join in her games. Sometimes I really enjoy getting on the floor and playing with her. I like to do crafts and draw pictures. But sometimes the idea of playing school, store or "Barbie goes to the mall with all her friends and has a dance contest" makes me want to pull out my hair. It's boring. So very boring.
Lately, she likes to pretend that she is an animal in a pet store. Not a dog or cat, but a Collector's Edition Baby Koala Bear. She is such a special bear that customers are fighting over who will be allowed to purchase her. I am a customer, of course. I try to remember that she will only be this young for a short time and soon she won't include me in her games. But as I am on my hands and knees begging the Koala bear to pick me, I often wonder if other parents are doing this. Are you your child's playmate?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Pendullum 5-16-2007 @ 5:13PM
Sent Shivers down my spine as I remember those days to well...
What a nightmare...
My daughter is an only child too... and I remember those days... and not too fondly...
She is now nine... and we draw together...thank goodness those days of going to the pet store and acquiring her are longpast...I feel your pain... truly I do!!!!!
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Manda 5-16-2007 @ 5:48PM
when I used to babysit my neices the oldest one (3 at the time) LOVED to pretend she was a lion in a zoo and her "cage" was my shower, which was in a corner and has three glass walls. we had to throw her food (cheetos) and let her out and pet her and then put her back in her 'cage' (it was funny, in a disturbing kind of way). My sister-in-Law would come over and be like "okay, where's my daughter?" ...um...in my shower?!
now that she's five she loves to come to my new house and take a bubble bath in my kids' bathroom (no special tub, just a plain old fiberglass tub)?
I would have never thought it was fun to go to my aunt's house and take a bath!! kids are wierd.
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kate 5-16-2007 @ 7:19PM
Oh man, can I relate. I used to feel so guilty for being bored silly playing "horsie" with my daughter (who is also an only). I would beg her to play something else or do crafts or whatever. And the exact same experience with play-dates, wanting me to play too! But finally, just in the last month or so, she's become completely content to play with her horses by herself. I think yours, too, will grow into being more able to entertain herself. And then soon enough we'll miss the days when they wanted to play with us....sigh....
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Amy 5-16-2007 @ 8:46PM
That is truly hilarious. I thought it was funny that my little one runs around meowing and barking randomly. By the way, mine is NOT an only, but his siblings are much older, so his father and I both play with him all the time. He wouldn't have it any other way.
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Jenn 5-17-2007 @ 1:33AM
I have three little ones from 5 to 2. There are times everyday that one if not all three want me to get on the floor and play for hours with them. I do my best to deal with as long as I can but it gets boring and then they all want your time at the same time. But I enjoy the time with them just not the toys or games they always want to play.
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Leian 5-17-2007 @ 12:54PM
Okay! So it's not just me! I work from home and I feel so guilty when I am trying to work and "can't" play with her, especially because a lot of the time "can't" really means "don't want to". I love her to PIECES but these games just don't hold that much appeal. The funny thing, though, is I clearly remember being disappointed when my mom didn't show any enthusiasm for my games, which of course seemed to me like the height of entertainment at the time. So I am trying to be better about that. I'm trying to remember that this is why I chose to stay home in the first place, so that I could "be" with her. I'm trying to be better about making SOME time to engage in her little games - although I don't need to do it all the time I feel like I could do it more often. As a kid I loved playing by myself sometimes, but sometimes I also wanted my mom to join in. So since she does a fairly good job of entertaining herself a lot, I want to do my part and play with her more often too. Because before I know it I'll be Miss Nosybody trying to figure out what's going on in her life and she won't want to tell me.
http://www.childofleisure.com
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