For those with older children, what sort of things do you wish you’d done more of with toddlers/younger children?

[WestEndGirls]

Mum of two boys here - youngest is 3 and eldest is 6. Feel like the baby years are behind us and want to make the most of the years ahead! Some days I feel like we do the same things day in, day out … so what sort of things do those of you who have older kids, wish you’d spent more time doing with them when they were (relatively) little?

Played with them, talked to them, encouraged thinking skills. Taken them to museums.

Maybe more reading to them - I was surprisingly crap at it (maybe because I'm hyperlexic and don't remember learning to read, also knackered and hated bed times for years). I have friends whose parents read to them for years, all through primary school years. Ds at 19 is not a reader at all and I do blame myself.

Encouraged interests that take time and support to get good at, e.g. cooking, sewing. For me also joining other hobbies like sports/gymnastics as even by 8 it feels 'late' to be joining some of these.

Just pottering in the park and playing imaginative games. There can never be too much of that. I miss playing endless games of octonauts. Sweet board games like memory or pizza pizza. Carrying them on shoulders or in arms. And letting them fall asleep cuddling you. Making forts out of cushions. Reading George’s marvellous medicine and making potions out of flowers and dishwashing liquid and old spices. Listening to them sing in their sweet little lispy voices. Holding their chubby hands. Getting a massive bubble wand and letting them chase down the bubbles. Blackberry foraging. Playing in the swimming pool. Playing in the sea.

Permanent - don't beat yourself up about reading, I (or DH) read to our DS religiously every bedtime, he was surrounded by books, DH & I are avid readers, we did every summer holiday library reading scheme throughout primary school, our DS (now 22) never, ever reads a book, managed to get a good degree at Uni without buying a single text book.

Chilled the f out.

I do agree with chill out… but the thing that immediately came to mind was finding time to do 1-1 stuff. There have been loads of things we have done as a family, but in retrospect, I think carving out more time and building experiences with each child individually would have had a lot of benefits. Setting up the expectation of this being normal, that they each get their turn and so are not missing out.