I always assumed that, once Sophie reached a certain age, she'd start playing by herself. I envisioned her sitting quietly on her own, playing happily with one of her gazillion toys, while I got to do my own thing. However, this has not been the case for us (so far at least). And after 16 months of being her main source of entertainment 24/7, this momma is ready for a break!
Instead of playing contently on her own, Sophie demands constant interaction from both me and Chase. She might play by herself for a few minutes, but then she's right back to being stuck to our sides. I love that she wants to interact with us, but it makes it nearly impossible to accomplish anything, like say cook dinner, when she's constantly pulling on my leg for me to pick her up, or throwing a fit because I'm not stopping what I'm doing to entertain her.
Don't get me wrong, I love playing with Sophie, but sometimes there are other things that I need to do, or I just want a few minutes to sit and watch a little TV or read a book. Those are the moments I wish she could play independently, even just for a little while.
This gets worse on rainy days, which we've been having a lot of lately. On rainy days I can't take her outside and let her run around, or do chalk with her in the driveway, or take her for a walk. No, on rainy days we are stuck in the house and she is looking to me to fill the long, boring hours of the day. I don't know why we even bothered to buy her so many toys for her birthday and Christmas; the kid has a playroom full of toys she hardly plays with. There are maybe a handful that she likes to play with for say five minutes, then she's done, and looking at me or Chase to entertain her.
Now, just so you don't think we're terrible parents, we have done lots of fun things with Sophie. Recently, we've went to the park, taken her on her first trip to the zoo, and attended her first spring carnival. We love to get her out of the house as much as possible, and do fun things with her, which is much easier to do when the weather cooperates.
However, for the days we can't get out of the house and mommy and daddy need to get a few things done, or just want to relax, I wish she could, you know-- just play! Can anyone else relate to this? Do you have any ideas for how to get her to play by herself for a little while? I should mention, Sophie does not watch TV. Not because we don't allow it, but because she just doesn't want to, which I think is a good thing, but that puts us at a disadvantage because we can never turn to the TV like so many other parents do when they need a break for a few minutes.
I don't know, maybe I'm asking too much of a 16 month old? All I know is I would like to have 10-15 minutes to do laundry, cook dinner, talk to my husband without being interrupted, zone out, etc., without a toddler pulling on my shirt or throwing a fit because I'm not giving her my undivided attention.
I recently read a really good blog post on this very subject, but it was referring to this problem in older children. Here's the link to it if you'd like to check it out: http://www.parenting.com/blogs/true-mom-confessions/sasha-emmons/play-alone Sometimes I worry if I don't start teaching Sophie how to entertain herself now, she won't be able to do it when she's older either. I really want to break the habit now, before it becomes a real problem.
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