Spending Time With Little Ones

I struggle with imaginative play.

As a child, I didn’t have a problem playing imaginatively with friends and siblings. But looking back on it, the majority of our imaginative play was acting out real-life scenes/events/people, rather than making up our own stories. Our play had all the limitations of the world around us.

Now, as a mother of two little ones, I struggle to not only play with them when they are imagining, but I also struggle just to have the attention span they require and not be bored out of my mind.

I’ve tried finding other avenues for connecting with them, but if it interests me it’s not something I’m willing to do with them… mainly because they’re so little that it really just ends up being me supervising them doing the thing I really want to be doing and doesn’t actually end up being fun for me.

Sometimes, I feel selfish for these thoughts and feelings. Especially when I read blog posts or other posts by parents on social media who do play with their kids and don’t do screen time. I honestly don’t know how they do it, and I’m happy for them that it works… but that’s not me.

I often wonder if I’m hurting my kids by allowing them so much screen time and not playing with them as often as it seems other parents play with their kids. I don’t ever want them to feel like I don’t care. I never want them to feel neglected or unloved.

So, I try to spend one on one time with them doing things they love, every single day. With my oldest, this means cuddling and watching her favorite show, or playing with playdoh together, or reading to her. With my youngest, it generally just means spending five minutes letting her lead. Lately that means hiding under blankets with her over and over again, or reading her favorite book to her a few dozen times in a row.

What about you? Do you do imaginative play with your little ones? Do you enjoy it, or just endure it? I’d love to know your thoughts down below!

Clarissa