Feeling like a tedious mum ....

[amateurmum]

We had a friend and her 3dcs round to tea today. After desulory adult conversation she launched into a two hour gane with children involving costumes, magic wands, secret dens, and model making! Children adored it (mine and hers) and I think she is a fantastic and creative mum but now... am feeling so inadequate.

I do spend time with my dcs but I never play so imaginatively and with such conviction. Feel like a boring parent ...

It seems trivial I know but am always so stuck in the practical or educational side of parenthood. My dh also seems to have much more fun with our dcs but I kind oif accepted this as a function of our different roles (he works away, wants to enjoy the children when he is at home, I do all the day to day stuff).

The afternoon has really made me think about how my children experience my parenting .. they were having so much fun and I never seem to inspire that.

Oh god if you are boring, I am probably the stuffed llama of parenting.

She should proabbly be cloned and hired out for parties.

I have never met anyone remotely like that in RL.

No. You are absolutely normal. She is not. Was she trying to impress you?

DOn't you think other parents always 'ham it up' at other people's houses though?

DH does this when we go to his parents - lots of crawling around with the kids, playing with them, doing silly games. And his parents beam and say "Oh, what a wonderful NATURAL father he is..." and I just bite my tongue and imagine blurting out "so why does he almost ignore them at home them/"

I have this with dds best friends mum, every time dd goes to play she comes back with handfuls of "crafty" type things they have made and tales of the wonderful games *** mum has played with them.

Always feel a bit useless when friend come back to ours, i'm more of a let them disappear upstairs/ outside and let me have some peace type of mum!!

You sound completly normal to me

Thanks for your posts - MN is great for putting things into perspective - don't now know why I got so emotional about this.

Think I will try to make time for some fun time this holiday though (although don't feel I can personally summon up energy to dress up in dds fairy costume and make a magic kingdom out of her duvet).