Honestly, stay at home momma's how much time do/did you spend playing with your toddler every day?

Question

How much time do you devote your undivided attention to your toddler and what sort of things do you do? Do you ever get bored and if so what do you do to get rid of your boredom?

I feel guilty if I do stuff thats not with him because I am the only one who plays with him 90% of the time. Does anyone else feel this way?

Answer 1

I figure about 3-5 hours. When I do get bored, I watch TV or play games on the computer.

Answer 2

I too am a stay at home mother. I play with my 3 year old about 2 hours of uninterupted time a day. Then I supervise in independent time. I also secedule time for playdates. That way I get to communicate also with other adults. It is ok to feel bored. I know I have had my times. Make time for yourself...it will make you a better mommy to the little one. If you are not well how can you care for another human. Most of all hang in there. Years from now there will be a day where you will look back and be glad you got to see all the firsts.

Answer 3

I TRY to watch a movie or something with him..BUT I can only watch Elmopalooza SO MANY TIMES..without wanting to pull out my hair!!

I try to spend about 50% undivided attention..but I also have a 5 yr old who wants the attention at the same time..so When my 5 yr old is home from school , they go off and I'm left doing ALL The things I couldn't do while "playing" with Joey...which is dishes, laundry, house cleaning...etc..

Answer 4

I have a five year old and just had a new baby 11 days ago. Before I always spent my time with my five year old and it seemed like every weekend I would come up with some thing crazy to do with her. Now that hte new baby is here I find my self not spending as much time with her. I am tired during the day from being up half the night. I don't want to leave the baby at home on the weekends. I find myself asking more and more of people to help me with her.

I feel bad for not spending as much time with her.

Before I had the baby I would play with her but honestly i got bored real quick. She of course doesn't want to play bored games right. She gets aggrivated real quick. Then I get aggrivated. Then i just quit. I try to play with her as oftne as possible but honestly playing house for hours on hours bores me.

Some times when I get bored i will play house with her and say ok i 'm at school and read or do homework for real. Or i will say ok i m the babysitter and watch tv.

When I was pregnant it seemed i really didn't want to do anything becuase i was so big that i couldn't sit on the floor and she wanted to drag me aroudn the house. Now i have the baby and i am tired.

but i try to make special time for her and even if i am bored for a few hours out of the day...if it makes her happy then thats what counts.

Answer 5

I have a 32 month and a 6 month old (both daughters) and morning time is Mommy and Me time. They wake up around 8am and from then until 12pm we do whatever my oldest wants to do. That is sometimes coloring, playing tea party, doing crafts or just watching JoJo's Circus on the disney channel. But whatever she decides to do, she knows that the morning is just for her.

At noon, we eat lunch and then she takes a nap. That's when I do my things (like paying bills, work from home or house cleaning). It works well for us.

She knows that before lunch and nap time, I am all hers. But she knows that after that, I am still here for her, but I have other things to do also.

We don't get bored because we always do something different. The trick is to not be afraid to do new things with a toddler. Their imaginations are amazing at this age, so just let them dictate the playtime.

Here's a website to help with fun ideas.

Good luck and have fun.

Answer 6

Toddlers seem to need some portion of your attention at all times. You can't just spend 2 hours and think you are done. Mine loved to clear off the toy shelf so when i needed to get something done i would make the shelf look very pretty. That would keep him busy for a while.

Find things they like to do and use them to your advantage. Go places like the park, library or just take walks to help keep yourself sane. Play groups are also great--if you know anyone else in your situation--take turns caring for each others kids and give play dates so you have someone to talk to and some time to get away by yourself.

Answer 7

I set aside about 2 hours while my husband is at work and when he gets home another hour before bed time with the two of us. When she goes down for a nap like right now, I get on the internet and watch tv at the same time! The rest of the time I'm cleaning or washing clothes doing things around the house. There's always something to clean.

Answer 8

I had two girls 11 mo. apart and I really did set aside at least two hrs a day to "play with them". If we went outside and it was warm we would fill the wading pool and the kids had their slide and they would swim. If it was to cool to swim but a nice day we would walk and collect leaves or in the winter snow flakes on a black cardboard and look at the different shapes. We would go sledding, ice skating, bike riding, to the park. In the house we would read, play school, paper dolls, crafts, paste anything to be creative. I was never bored. And when I had to fix supper, clean, whatever I always tried to make the girls feel a part of whatever I was doing. I must have done something right, because they grew up as wonderful young women and are both in college on full scholarships. Now I really miss them and look forward to someday becoming a grandmother so I can "play" with my grandchildren.

Answer 9

Undivided attention is not always what is needed. My first 2 were 15 mo apart so there was always plenty to do. I also did what housework I could do, but I did it around them and involving them. I never put them in their room so I could clean the house. I had them looking at a book by me, getting me things, kids love to help even young ones. They do not need constant playtime. My granddaughter has been with me for 2 weeks and now that her parents are home, she suddenly acts much younger. She is young, 15mo but she loved helping me do stuff. Feeding the dog, watering the plants. Of course I had to do it after her or with her or in spite of her, but she thought she was helping. When the kids sleep, I sleep or at least rest and read a book. That way I'm ready to go again when they are. We go out for french fries or to the dollar store or the grocery store just for a change of scenery. I talk all the time to her (as I did my kids), just about everything we're doing, or the dog is doing, or whatever. They need time to learn to play by themselves also. Otherwise, they will never be able to leave you side to play with other kids,, or by themselves.

Answer 10

2-3 hours. He play great on his own and he still takes nice long naps. When daddy gets home he will take over unless he is working a lot of overtime.