"I want to play with Mummy" Gaaah!

[Kif]

It's driving me batty - all day long I hear it - giving me a nervous tick.

I do ruddy play with her. Even if 'playing' involves her coralling all the bricks to build her special house - then her moaning that I haven't built a house.

I know at 3 she's probably ready for playgroup - albeit playgroup isn't ready for her til September. I know objectively speaking, in general, she's the most patient independent toddler known to man. I know this is a recent phase co-inciding with my dh being away more than he's here, and little bro waking me up every 2 hours, so I am zombie.

She's become anti our usual playgroup - prob because she's the oldest one left there now. I've started kicking her out the door with my biggest carrot and biggest stick - cos staying in all day ends in tears.

My finger is hovering over the 'nuclear' button of cutting short my mat leave and putting her into day nursery 3 days per wk.

Whada I do?

(bump)

no wise advice?

Maternity leave when she is 3 years old!?

Oh forgive me, I am an idiot. Just properly read and I guess mat. leave is for her brother.

I think it is almost certainly jealousy issues. I have been through this, and it is really hard.

she is clever [taps nose]

start teaching her something

also she wants your attention

sounds really really hard, dd2 was like this at this age (I went back to work )

I also found it worsened when DP was away with work, or working long hours. The best thing I could do was to make time (say when the baby is sleeping) to play exclusively with the older one, no checking on or talking about the baby. I also tried to find games we could all play together, such as teaching DS to play peekaboo with DD.

my Dd (3.3) has been like this recently and we started shwoing her letters. We play eye spy, look at books and she picks out W and M - the ones she knows. And we go through what starts with W etc. As she is actually 'learning' something she's interested but as they're spoken games they can be done while you are doing other stuff. I seem to play eye spy a lot while feeding DD2

"no, i'm busy /tired..go watch cbbc"

One of the worst stages of being a mum.

Used to drive me potty.

The only thing is that as soon as they go to school you miss them desperately.

Kif
I am in same boat, with ds2 6 weeks and also intermittently trying to finish phD/write papers....

ds1 is such a clingon and shouts constantly in my ears, shattering any independent coherent thoughts I may have. Then I get the baby in the other ear...

I am using cbeebies in the late afternoon and trying to get his friends to come round a lot, as then he leaves me alone.

Otherwise, I have my own nuclear option of 'go and play by yourself NOW or...' [insert dire conseqence such as loss of pudding/cbeebies]. Oh the shame. He whinges all the way up, protests he's too tired. Then sometimes, he gets into it and I get 15 mins peace.

ds (3) is just the same, sends me crazy. I so regret getting rid of the tv! Why must I have these fads, especially the kind that when you've changed your mind you have to save up to get things back to normal. I'd give anything for cbeebies!

My dd (nearly 4) is exactly the same Kif and sorry to say this but she attends pre-school five days a week. The sentence "Mummy - will you play with me?" is heard in this house every 20 seconds (or seems like it anyway). I don't have a younger child to look after like you - that must be tough - but I've tried to isolate the minimum of 20 mins - maximum 40 mins playing with her every day + usual bed-time stories/wind-down exclusive time. It's the best I can do at the moment and she still asks for more ... don't know the answer but sympathise!!

It must be some sort of developmental phase ... needing more reassurance I reckon ... because this behaviour has coincided with her starting to be quite fearful of the dark and of going to the loo on her own etc etc when previously she was very brave and gung-ho. Maybe some more experienced mns can shed more light ...