Do you play imaginary games with your kids?

[jackie2kids]

Of the "I'll be spiderman, you be Dr Occtopus variety?"

I managed fine with the tea party games, but struggle with the long and complicated games that DS plays now.

Am I a meanie for not wanting to play?

My dd doesn't play things like that.. it's more "You be the mammy & I will be the wee girl"

Or she will pretend to be a dog & ds will follow her around the floor..

She will come with a pad & a pen & ask what we want to eat

both my dds love this sort of thing....I can't say I do! I kind of lose interest half way through and wander off and do something else...

I do start them off, then exit stae left pretty quickly and give my brain a rest.

I do like playing boy jaguar and mama jaguar when we are out and about and can climb trees together but the aimless improvisations based on characters is a tad tiresome it has to be said.

I really tire of them quickly.

Usually my dd has some kind of stuffed toy/doll and one is her and one is me (sometimes we have granny/daddy and so on) and we 'play'. This involves saying things like let's go to the park, now let's go on the slide, let's go to nursery... ad infinitum. ARGH.

We will sometimes do the you're this character, I'm that character thing too. But she is only 3 so the games aren't too complex. I.e. I'm the boy, you're the snowman, let's fly!!

Don't know if this is the same thing but I do things like this to get dd in the bath - yesterday she was playing with her plastic dinosaur and I suggested she introduce him to mr shark who lives in the bath, works a treat but I have to do the voices -

Shark - "hello mr dinosaur, how are you today?" (gruff lancashire accent)

Dinosaur - "Graaarggh!"

Mrs Octopus - "now stop that!" (prim school marm)

DS1 (3 1/2) makes me play them loads. Mostly in the car. Usually super-heroes, turtles, spiderman, batman, superman etc. We do really long and involved plots and he can pass a journey of a few hours v happily doing it (although sends me bit mad, he has to say 'mum concentrate' quite a lot). I like it best when I get to choose the plot. Usually after having been cut up by 4 x 4 or some such, we play that DS is the Hulk and picks up the offending car and throws it in the lake and won't get it out until the driver promises to sell it and get a bike instead. Quite therapeutic for me. Hope not causing any long term problems for him.

DD's play is more role play now - so I am used to being bossed about as a pupil, being told to do my reading and writing ebetter, or being a diner in a restaurant for example.

DS1 ia 3 1/4 and he loves pretending to be a Monster/me pretending to be a monster and chasing each other. He also loves pretending to be Father Christmas in the bath (complete with bubble beard) and today was also a donkey (!?). I love his long imaginary stories but get peed off running away from/being a monster.

Both dds (5&3) like playing tea parties and picnics and always want me to join in. They also play schools with dd1 as teacher, dd2 as assistant and various cuddly toys and dolls as children!

Some of those games are lovely. I can cope with DDs tea parties and I played Fireman Sam for ages with DS last year (I was Elvis), but now he's nearly 4 and his games all turn into shooting and fighting.

I like his stories though, I start him off and away he goes.

God, endlessly. tbh, I mostly enjoy them, its my sort of thing; but even I can get fed up of being Diego, Linny, or Angelina's little cousin Henry

I use them to my advantage, shamelessly...getting dd1 to pre-school is soo much easier if I am Dudley the Scaredy Dog to her Daphne...

Ditto Elibean. I can get DD1 out of the house, to eat all her dinner, brush her teeth and so on by pretending she is Lola and I'm Charlie, or a cat or a crocodile or pirate and so on. She has a wonderful imagination for a little girl with SN's and I love it!