Do you like playing with your young (<5) children?

[Anonymous]

I do not mind arts and crafts or a board game. But anything more then that would make me batty. DH will sit at her little table and places orders, eat play food etc while working on a crossword or watching tv and she is happy. And yes, he does interact with her "hey this needs pepper!" And she runs off to the play kitchen to fix it.

[Anonymous]

I do not find play with my 9 month old all that fun. He is adorable, and I love making him smile and laugh and seeing him learn new things, but otherwise, other than reading to him, the rest of the "play" is kind of mind-numbing. I can't wait until we get to coloring and Legos.

[Anonymous]

I don't have children, so if I had to deal with it 24/7 I'm sure it would get old...but I love playing with little kids. I love reading to them, making up silly stories, playing pretend, playing with legos, arts and crafts, teaching them games, making up games with them. My niece (now 7) loves games, so I've taught her various card games, and I even tricked her into practicing addition (she claims she hates math) by making up dice games. I love curling up and reading stories, playing spa, playing dolls, playing school, playing scientist. I did a lot of babysitting as a teen, and I spent a lot of time playing make believe and building with legos/trains/etc. since I feel like it's kind of lame to park kids in front of the TV. I also like watching them squirm and giggle when you pick them up and spin them around. When I babysat, I used to tell these epic stories after the lights went out to my one neighbor who was like a little sister to me--usually a whole retelling of Star Wars or the Hobbit until she would finally pass out. My nieces and I love to turn the lights out and tell scary ghost stories with a goofy Halloween flashlight.

I also like being a grown up and having adult interests and my career, and I have no desire to have a huge family. But I would say that playing is the best part--I like it way better than poopy diapers, discipling children, and dealing with meltdowns, anyway!

[Anonymous]

^^PP here. I would say my favorite age is late toddler-preschooler. 2.5 to 4 year olds are great playmates. You can't do as much with games, but stories and being goofy and playing with dolls is very fun!

[Anonymous]

not really. i tend to spend the time hugging and kissing them constantly. it's probably annoying. but yeah, playing... not so much.

that said, i do like taking my older kid (3.5 yo) out on adventures like hiking or museum visits.

[Anonymous]

Anything other than pretending, I enjoy and could play with my kid all day. Pretending is torture for me. I once made the mistake of holding one of his animals and "talking" that animal in a funny voice to him. "Hey, Sonny. How are ya?" I thought it was funny the first time. Now he brings me anything with a face, pushes it on me, and imitates my voice.

[Anonymous]

I do play with them. I don't mind playing with figures like their castle guys. I love Legos. And I really love making stuffed animals talk. I think I missed my calling as a puppeteer on Sesame Street.

But I do not like pretending to be someone else. I don't like to play house or doctor or anything that involves me actually acting like I am someone other than Mom. I do it, sometimes. But I'd rather do anything else.

And I also made it clear that Mom does not play shooting or endless games of putting bad guys in jail. That's what he has friends (and a brother) for.

[Anonymous]

Physical stuff--yes. Sports, chasing, kicking ball...

I have all boys so its a good match.

I could never do a tea party or dress up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. But not for long periods of time.

This. I can pretend for a few minutes. I prefer to read to them or play a board game with clear instructions, versus just having my DD boss me around telling me which disney evil queen I get to portray that day and exactly what I should say. OP, what do you like to do with them? Focus on those things (cook with them, do playdough, read, whatever YOU like) and focus on those so you don't have to do the annoying things all the time.

LMAO! I have boys, and honestly, I like playing with race cars and trains. However, I don't think I could do the princess thing.

I was just thinking about this today. The car thing gets old, but I have totally mastered the Mater voice. I think I would be feminazi if I had a girl into princess stuff.

[Anonymous]

Love outdoor play like bikes and soccer balls and running around. Like pretend play, but now that we have 2 kids i dont get asked to participate as much, so now i love to watch them do this. Love singing, reading, tickling, and goofing around with them. Love being on the playground with them, now that they are both pretty independent. love tea parties, trains, cars, and doctor.

Cant stand Board games. So painful to watch a 2 year old knock over all the parts for the 30th time, and Candyland is SOOO boring. And puzzles are painful too, but maybe this will get better as they get older and faster. Im not really an arts and crafts mom either.

[Anonymous]

No, I will read to them anytime they like, I will even drop what I am doing to do this. My daughter liked to color. So I would do that or draw with her. I play board games and Puzzles. Outside sports, for a little while- catch, soccer, and tennis. I never liked swimming and found a private teacher so I didn't have to go in but then a grand dad commented to me I should go in the water with them, felt bad and Now I occasionally go in. I am not as fun as their dad in the water but they love It when I go in.

My husband set himself up by rolling a round on the floor, rough housing and constantly picking them up. As soon as he walks in they jump on him. Cute when they greet him at the odor but very annoying when you had a hard day at work and it's play with... Jump on his head, tantrums and whine when he doesn't feel like playing.

[Anonymous]

Ha! My DD is a bit older but loves to play "school" and gives me endless assignments, etc. I get very bored very quickly with pretend play and prefer reading , drawing, stickers , etc like PPs.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't even mind the pretending part that much if DS didn't always tell me EXACTLY what my character has to say. I feel like a puppet.

[Anonymous]

I love playing with my kids, I just wish I had more time to do it - as a working mom it is so hard to find 'downtime' with my kids. I find the more I play with them the more I appreciate their personalities and really enjoy them as people, and the better our relationship is. In general the more 'quality time 'I spend with them the better their behaviour is, the more cooperative they are, so overall playtime is rewarding in a lot of ways.

[Anonymous]

Yes!!! They're 5 and 3. We all like the same things: building toys, books, simple art, games, puzzles, and bikes/chalk/balls/other outside things. To me, that's all fun stuff.

It helps that they're not super into pretending or long imaginary games with me. They do that with each other, with friends during play dates, and my 2 yo does it solo sometimes, too. So I'm spared that part (which I probably would not enjoy much. )