Being a good parent - I need help

[Piplette]

I feel like I'm failing in part of my role as a parent.

I have 2 dds aged 6 and 1. They are both amazing girls. My 6 year old though seems to struggle to play on her own - always has.

Give her a tablet/games console or put a film (or annoying YouTube channel on) and she'll sit for hours however I try to avoid this. She does however seem lost if she's not got constant attention and always wants you to play with her be it doing a jigsaw, crafts, colouring in.

As much as I'd love that, the reality is me and DH work full time and when the working day/week is done there are washings to do,shopping to do, meals to cook etc while she loiters around waiting for me to finish.

I find myself getting annoyed with her - she has a room full of toys but that isn't enough. I can literally spend hours amusing her or arranging something to entertain her i.e. Today I booked her for a 2 hour outdoor games camp. As soon as I collected her she asks what we're doing next.

I do feel that I need to ease off on the chores etc as I can be a bit too focused on the to do list but there is always so much to do!

Please help me to strike the right balance!

Was that the same when she was small? Did you leave her in the room with toys to amuse herself at all?

She can help with chores then? Get her involved in cooking, cleaning and so on. She gets to spend time with you and learns how to do these things too while having fun.

Can she read yet? Does she like playing with her sister? She can read something simple or go through a picture book with her sister and be ‘miss teacher X’. I have a similar age gap to one of my siblings and I used to love bossing them around. Younger ones love following the big sibling too.

@FTEngineerM

Was that the same when she was small? Did you leave her in the room with toys to amuse herself at all?

Yes she's always been like this. I think it's a symptom of being an only child for so long.

@EileenGC

She can help with chores then? Get her involved in cooking, cleaning and so on. She gets to spend time with you and learns how to do these things too while having fun.

Can she read yet? Does she like playing with her sister? She can read something simple or go through a picture book with her sister and be ‘miss teacher X’. I have a similar age gap to one of my siblings and I used to love bossing them around. Younger ones love following the big sibling too.

That's actually a great suggestion re the chores even though it will take three times as long!

She can read and I'm trying to encourage her to read herself more which sometimes works but not always.