to be really worried I don't spend enough time engaged with my children?

[tryingtobemarypoppins2]

Our days over the summer have tended to go like this: (DC are 3 and 1)

Get up, children play while I sort breakfast.
Eat breakfast while I pack lunchboxes
Get washed, dressed and out the door.

Spend all morning and early afternoon at the park/museum/zoo etc etc etc. I feel that I spend most of the time keeping youngest safe, stopping them running off etc, pretty much hoovering.... etc

Then its home for more play whilst I cook dinner.
All eat, then about an 1/2 hour of me tidying up and children playing.

Finally 1/2 hour cuddles, stories before bathtime then stories and bed.

It has occured to be today that I spend all my time clearing up, or supervising as opposed to 'play with' not sure if I am spending enough quality time in 1:1 sitautions playing with them IYSWIM???

TBH this is slightly a reaction to discovering that a friends 3 year old can read (I mean really read!) after she has done 20mins flash card work with him every day since he was 5 months.......

WDYT?

And sorry, W(hy)TF would you tell someone about your "genius" child? I'd be acutely embarrassed. Conscious of the irony of what I am about to declare, I was always downplaying what my DD was able to do when talking to friends. She has always had a very advanced vocabulary for her age but when talking to friends I'd never TELL them all about it. I might go home and smile smugly about her obvious genius and gloat with DH, but I would never talk about it in public. Anyway, I know mothers who foist flashcards on their children from a young age and haven't a book in the house. But perhaps I am being unfair on your friend and you discovered entirely accidentally that her DC is the next Einstein.

Ha ha...read the title and thought you'd have teenage kids. But now realise they are only 3 and 1. So relieved for you........Playing trains/dolls etc is dull, IMO.

When they are older you can find a sport/interest you share.

Its sounds like you are doing a great job! Well done. You are normal

Sometimes it just goes like that, doesn't it?

I made a mountain out of a mole hill had a bit of an internal crisis about this a few months ago. Ds is not 2 yet but enjoys playing independently and on those mornings I am home with him, he feeds himself breakfast in his highchair and then plays independently while I MN tidy/pay bills online/make boring phonecalls/check work emails. This is about an hour or so of our day.

I am a speech and language therapist, so I make a living out of telling people to talk to their kids and how to do it. As a consequence, I sometimes feel terrible pressure to be superinteractive and commenting on his every breath (practically). I felt hugely guilty about this hour. How ridiculous! I knew I was being ridiculous, I talk to him all day and we do all manner of great things together and I think it's really important to give them space to explore and work things out without a constant commentary from a parent who can't be 100% sure what they are aiming for by putting that block into the box again and again... but I felt the guilt, nonetheless.

It came to a head one week when we seemed not to talk very much at all and I felt really bad that I was "neglecting" him. This, it turned out later, happened to be a week before he got a nasty viral illness. I had most probably instinctively responded to him being a bit "off" by just cuddling him quietly and not being totally in his face all the time, and yet I still felt guilty. I suddenly realised that I was being utterly stupid and have chilled out a lot.

Sounds like its been busy and the everyday stuff is taking precedence for now. It will all be fine.