Testing, testing! Bossy 2 year old driving me crazy today.

[Greedygirl]

OMG my 2.6 year old is suddenly soooo bossy and seems to require constant interaction from me. Is it unreasonable to ask a toddler of this age to play on their own for 5 minutes whilst mummy has a cuppa? I got into a barmy battle with him today where I was insisting that I was having 5 minutes of quiet whilst he gnashed his teeth and cried and generally carried on (so relaxing!) and I just wondered if I am being daft to expect him at this age to be able to entertain himself?

My dd is the same age and we have days that sound just like yours. Sometimes she's great and will entertain herself for a while but, at the moment, she seems to want constant interaction. I put it down to her having moved on from learning how to play (in a limited fashion) independently and is ready for parallel play. Seeing as it's only me around, I get to take on the friend role as well as the parent. This is great sometimes but, when you're trying to make a phone call or stroke the cat, it can become infuriating! I'm thinking that it might be time for play group as a regular thing and not just as and when I feel up to it. Maybe your son is the same?

Yes he does seem to be far more controlling when it is just the two of us, when we have friends around he is quite happy to potter around but it is quite rare for him to play completely independently. Perhaps I should be a bit more inventive and have some different activities up my sleeve. He goes to a childminder a couple of days a week and we do music and swimming on my days off so I don't really want to add a play group on top of that. I just felt really mean today refusing to play with him but also exasperated!

same here today. and constant all day whingeing (my dd not me!!) she's 2.5 and fine with everyone else but as soon as i'm around it's 'mummy do it' or a huge tantrum... when we go to see friends/they come to us she doesn't engage with them and just sits on my lap..despite getting excited about seeing them all morning.aaaghh!i've also noticed she's worse when i am trying to have a conversation with someone - like she can't bear my to interact with anyone but her. it's awful to say but i was so releived when she went to bed this evening and am only just starting to feel myself relax from the constant stress now!!

oh isn't it completely and utterly draining?! My DS is also being quite demanding at bedtimes at the mo so I felt relieved/completely rubbish by the time he went to sleep. He also does ramps up the attention seeking when I am trying to have a conversation with someone although strangely plays really nicely when I am on the phone to someone! It is a relief to know that my DS is very ordinary and not a spoilt lordy lord!

DS is like this sometimes, sometimes I will go and set his toys up so they are doing something funny, thomas tank going up the ladder into the fire station etc. And then say with great theatrical shock " Oh My Goodness DS have you seen what Thomas is doing in the Fire Station?!" this usually sparks his interest and he will play more on his own while I have my five mins! I tend to find that the distraction to play method works a bit better than head on telling him that I want to be on my own.

Yes, even as I was having the ridiculous argument with him the rational side of my brain was telling me it was the wrong strategy!