DD is a deeply social and affectionate 7 year old only child (and I'm a single parent, if that is relevant).
For some reason, this half term it has been very tricky to keep her stimulated/occupied for any length of time (15 minutes without 'Muuuuummmmm' is the most I can hope for, and that is infrequent). We've done quite a bit of 'going out' (roller skating, swimming, playdates, day trip to an amusement park, etc), done some errands just for her (summer clothes shopping, library), but she seems to have lost the ability to occupy herself at home for any length of time.
I work for myself, and work from home, so while I can have a 'light' week when she's off school, I cannot stop working completely. I also need a bit of uninterrupted time to think - her constant questions/reguests eventually make me snap at her.
She wants to be in the room with me most all the time, pesters for me to play with her, when reading a book constantly asks what words mean, when doing an art project wants to show me every step of the way what she's done - all is OK in the short term (over a weekend), but after a week with little time to work and no time to myself, I am snappy and impatient with her.
I don't want to simply throw her in front of the telly or computer for hours at a time (though certainly do a bit of that ). My patience is wearing thin - and am dreading today honestly as our museum jaunt with friends cancelled late last night.
I think this problem is trickier as she's an only, so can't occupy herself with sibling games, and seems lonely (and a bit sad, if I'm honest) to tell her to play in the garden on her own. Any ideas?