Play/toy/activity suggestions,

It's actually really important to let them be bored, you don't need to plan activities all the time. I'm bad at coming up with activities too! Sometimes I'll go do chores and suggest an activity like coloring, or just ask her to help me clean

@Jessica I do let her do her own thing most of the day but it’s usually something she shouldn’t be. I’m constantly redirecting or saying no. The only solution to this would be to put her in a small enclosed area and I know she wouldn’t be a fan of that. I also don’t want to have do this in general bc we live in a tiny apartment. I’m just feeling so overwhelmed and down.

At this age they are starting to play pretend, acting out what the people in their lives do. Toys that are play versions of household things are good for that: baby dolls, kitchens, etc. Let your child lead and just do what they do. If they hand you a plate, say “yum”. If they say the baby is sad, rock the baby. Mine once spent a good 15 minutes pretending to “go to work”, saying goodbye and then going into the linen closet for about 3 seconds the “coming home” and giving me a hug. I just sat there and said hello and goodbye at the appropriate times, maybe add in a “I’ll miss you, but I know you will come back”. Also, it’s totally normal to not know how to play with little kids, even if you had a perfect childhood. Don’t worry about doing it wrong, just focus on being present.

I don’t do regular screen time but like if there is an animal in a book my son is curious about I show him a short video about it on YouTube. But yeah that’s like 2x in a month. So we read books together, I read to him and then we spend time reading separately like I read my grown up book and he reads his book in my lap or in his chair. We also try to take 2 walks a day, harder now I have a newborn, but we try! And then I usually have my son help me in the kitchen, cracking eggs or cleaning up from snack, he also has a couple “chores” he helps take the dirty rags from the kitchen to the washer each day and helps fold and put away the laundry(makes doing laundry take a long time but it’s a fun activity). We also draw a lot together, I use blank paper to make it more interactive like I’ll draw a man and he might copy me or adds something too my character, I don’t like coloring books because they aren’t usually very interesting to simply fill in the lines. He also really likes play dough.

Look into the Lovevery subscription. Every 3 months toys that are developmentally appropriate for that age just show up at your door. It comes with a play guide that tells you step by step why each toy is important and ideas on how to use it to play.

My son really loves those magnet blocks to make towers and knock them down, he plays this for about 20 minutes at a time and even longer when his dad plays with him. And yeah we talk and sing a lot too, I put on music I like and start dancing and we have dance parties 😁

My mom was pretty hands off when I was growing up so I also struggle playing with my son. The best advice I got was to set a certain amount of time throughout the day. So I’ll do 10 minutes here and there. Just play along with whatever your child likes. My son loves to play with his cars, play sets, color, explore outside, or read. I just do all those things along with him and make sure I’m giving my eye contact and attention to him the whole time.

@Tina I guess where I’m at is that my daughter doesn’t really like to do anything inside of the house. Her therapist wants me to work on activities that require her to focus more on fine motor but those activities don’t interest her. I have to go back and forth between regulating activities and go back to the ones she doesn’t care for. It’s exhausting and it feels like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel

@Grace my daughter likes to sing and dance too. I just wish I’d have the want and energy to do it for hours at a time lol

@Grace my child is a busy body so she never just sits and exists. The thought of being able to read something for myself while she reads sounds like a fantasy in my case lol if I go for a walk with her I have to hold her hand the entire time or she will run off and has no sense of danger so it’s stressful. She doesn’t really listen to commands well at all and gets bored if we do try to draw within like 2-5 min. If we use playdoh she’s putting it in her mouth. It’s just very overwhelming for me and it’s hard to talk to other moms who aren’t in similar situations bc their child is “normal”

Oh jeez well I was just sharing what we do. Hope you have a good day 🤍

Ooof that’s tough. I saw your comment about you having to hold her hand and having no sense of danger. You could be writing about my son lol. I never let go of him either cause he just doesn’t have fear. The only time I get him to read is if he is drinking something otherwise he won’t sit longer than 30 seconds maybe. Maybe give her some chalk outside or sand. My son still eats stuff at times so I make sure to just watch. Maybe just letting her play with sticks and rocks etc will help.