When your kids ask you to play with them

[Santa01]

I love my children more than anything but a shiver goes down my spine when they ask me to play with them, specially anything Lego/play doh or Sylvanian families related...

Please tell me I'm not the only one or else that I'm the worst parent for not getting excited about little rabbits or square pieces of plastic....

My dd5 has, since lockdown began, wanted to pretend to be a kitten opening her eyes for the first time, with me as mummy cat teaching her what everything is, how to drink, what clothes are for etc. It was cute first few times, but she wanted to do it 3-4 times a day, whilst also talking to me in a unique cat language to me. Obviously I don't understand cat language so she'd meow, then whisper to me what it meant. Then repeat. Let's just say the conversation didn't flow 😂. I've got it down to once a day now, for a maximum of 15 minutes, when she turns from kitten back to dd. Give me crafts, Lego etc anytime!

Nah. My kids are very good at playing by themselves though. We can spend entire days in separate rooms without bothering each other

I do other stuff with them, like sewing, art, music lessons, cooking. But playing can get fucked.

Aargh, I hate Lego and play dough and crafts and endless, endless vehicle play. I hate board games, card games, any games, really, including all sport - I am just desperately waiting for it to end, much the way I’d approach an appointment with the dental hygienist. I hate baking. I hate reading the same book over and over and over. I do quite like chasing, though, and dancing and tickling and general roughhousing. And some pretending, though not when it’s endlessly pretending to be a monster who needs slaying.

Those of you who like Lego... what on earth do you like about it? In our house playing Lego goes one of 2 ways (a) spend 3 hours looking for a tiny piece that DS cannot do without (and which probably disappeared up the Hoover some months ago) in an escalating frenzy, culminating in DS screaming himself purple and banging his head on the floor with rage and frustration (b) build something truly magnificent over the course of 3 intense and exhausting hours involving thousands of screaming, tearful setbacks, and then brushing it incredibly lightly by accident with a feather or a tea towel or something and the whole thing suddenly smashes into smithereens never to be recreated successfully again, and DS cries for DAYS and begs me to make it again and hits me when I can’t. Every time he asks for Lego a part of me dies.

@dontforgetyourbrolly Ann Hegarty, that's hilarious!

@limpbizkit I hate arts and crafts too. As well as Playmobil etc. One of my DC was obsessed with cars when he was young and wanted me to play for hours just driving them around, lining them up, racing them etc etc. Urgh the memories.

I don't mind Lego or play dough, and like board games, cards etc. I've always liked reading but my toddler is obsessed with books and constantly brings them to us to read to him and it's starting to wear a bit thin. Don't want to discourage him though as feel a love of reading is a great thing.

@Dontforgetyourbrolly That made me laugh. My car obsessed DC also used to make us do a lot of role play where he was Richard Hammond and I was James May and we had to run around pretending to drive and crash!

With my son it was awful. He played such boring imaginative play (to me). It was all fighting, superhero’s, explosions etc.

My daughters play I (embarrassingly) enjoy. It takes me back to my own childhood. It’s all babies, doctors, kitchen play. Admittedly there is only so much I can play however.

This has made me feel so much better about myself!

I am WFH at the moment and my other half is furloughed so with our DD 3 during the day. I can hear them downstairs pretend playing and I am secretly glad it isn't me. At the weekend it's 'mummy make baby talk' 'mummy come play with me'. I don't mind painting, play dough, baking I can tolerate because I enjoy it on my own so like that she is interested. But I don't want to make a bloody doll talk again. I want to chill out for 10mins and drink my coffee!

My dd terrorised me for years with 'imaginative play'. I could literally poke my own eyeballs out from boredom (🖕 you shopkins) . Thankfully ds is more of a rough and tumble player. I spend many happy hours flinging pillows at his face as he walks in the room, practising our own brand of acro yoga and rolling each other up in the duvet and then pushing them off the bed! He's 3 😁

Oh dear lord. Literally all DD wants to do is pretend play. Shrivels my soul. I will craft, run, garden, bake, board game, read, build or literally anything else for any length of time with cheer in my heart, but the millionth game of 'crawling around on the floor with today's random selection of soft toys and cobbled together, ridiculously specific props*, pretending to be whatever today's theme is AGAIN' tests every shred of my love for that child.

*example from today: 'we need a conveyor belt for the toy factory, mummy! And it HAS to really move!'

Does anyone else's kid tell you what to say and then go mental when you say the wrong thing? maybejustmine

@limpbizkit yes, with you, hate arts and crafts. Tried to make some stupid fucking torch things from toilet roll inside the other day (Google convinced me was easy). What a disaster.
Much rather play pretend. Today we ran around the back yard yelling "fish gone wild". No idea why but it was genuinely hilarious. Sure the neighbors thought so too.

I hate imagination play as I just don’t have any. The kids just bark orders at me while they get increasingly pissed off that I’m doing it wrong.

I always thought I’d love arts and crafts and cooking with my children, because they are things I already enjoy and am good at. But no. I really fucking hate it because, like them, I am a control freak and I spend the whole time barking orders at them while I get increasingly pissed off that they are doing it wrong.

Aah I love this thread, I have found my people!My blood runs cold when my kids ask me to play pretend. I'm not naturally creative at all. And like others I always somehow manage to get it "wrong" and they shout at me 🙄 when my DD was about 2.5 she uses to ask me to play "nurseries" - she loved nursery, she would be her and I would be her key worker Rosie. She would knock on the door and I'd answer, welcome her in and think of an activity to do (which would last 10 seconds) - then repeat. All. The live long. Day. It was torture, went on for hours and the only game she'd want to play. It's basically the reason we had DS to give her a playmate

Their dad is great at imagination play though!

Oh god. I hate it too. I deliberately give my characters the wrong personality or behaviours so that we can just move to the “No Mummy!” stage quicker and just get it over with.

I would feel guilty but given I had two DC 18 months apart I feel I’ve done my bit in the play mate department and they can bloody well play with each other. Which they usually do, in fairness to them.

Just say no.....

One of mine used to ask to play roll ball with me. God, the boredom of rolling a ball to each other the length of the hallway. I used to mentally write my shopping list or dream of how I would spend my lottery winnings as that bloody ball went back and forth 😂
I enjoy blow football though, all the kids laid in a circle, packet of straws and a ping pong ball. 😁

I hate the roleplay stuff.

I have the kids do yoga, I pretend I'm ill and they're the doctor, we pretend to have a bed and breakfast and use the spare room where I lie down and they bring me breakfast in bed in. Involves me checking in, them taking my payment etc.

Also play at camping, oh it's dark, lights out, etc, ooh, morning, go cook the bacon etc.

Luckily DS also likes pretending to be Freddie Mercury and also Joan Jett so at least we can listen to cool music

I really hate pretend play. It bores me to tears. My son just wanted to pew pew pew his LEGO. I liked crafts but my ds always wanted to then play pretend with the craft after.

I'm good at sleeping logs, watching them on the playground, building train tracks and taking them out.

My dh is great at play. He was always making funny stuff up. Lining up toys on the stairs and rolling stuff down to knock them, inventing games, making toys come alive. I always found it amusing and fun when he made stuff up. I would never have thought of any of it.

I love crafts and baking, that's where I'm happiest but my dd loves imaginary play. Since lockdown weve had 30mins of playing with toys together after dinner and the last few days weve also had 30mins in the afternoon, it's boring but she loves it so much. Shes been loving drawing during lockdown to so we are doing atleast an hour of that a day to which is nice. We also play cafes while I cook breakfast. Shes in reception and spends most of her play time at school doing imaginary play with her best friend which I know she misses

I’m glad it’s not just me.

I can do Lego/ colouring in with them but ‘playing’ with transformers isn’t my thing!

I was the same when mine were young. I think it's fine and never felt guilty about it. I did plenty of other stuff with them like parks, softplay, painting, cooking etc.

I detested arts and crafts as well so I would take them to a playgroup that did all that there. Funnily enough they're teens now and both of them remember the day I put them in wet weather gear and let them play in a massive puddle in the park nearby. it was a one off as it had rained heavily. They dont remember the hours of baking and painting we did though.

You have no idea how much I needed to read this, I have always felt that somehow I’m damaging my child for just not being able or wanting to do this imaginative play. My husband is fantastic at it, but I’m not great at all (and actively avoid it) and the guilt is intense.