Does anyone else find it so hard to play with their kids :(

So my toddler is about to be 3 next month and she is in an imaginative stage. I’m a SAHM and she wants to pretend play and because I’m so exhausted all the time (and honestly depressed af) I cannot work up the energy to be imaginative. I do take the time out but it’s really hard and I mostly say I can’t rn. Every time I walk in her sight she chases me down with her toys to play lol. And I feel so bad cause most of the time I just don’t want to 😭

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In the same boat! My toddler 3 in June and this has been a really hard phase in regards to playing. I have an 8mo too and I dread playing sometimes.

I feel like such a bad parent because I don’t enjoy it 😩 I enjoy otter things like having her ride her bike or scooter outside while I chill or we color or do crafts but playing pretend is sooooo hard and that’s all she’d rather do.

the only thing she would rather do is read and crafts but the crafts are a lot of preparation so it’s not something we do weekly as far as crafts go and reading I love as well as she but it’s mostly a bed time thing.

I've always felt really awkward with little kids' pretend games too. But I feel it's important to her development to at least try. When she wants to play ice cream store or something, I act pretty serious and take the time to teach her. For instance, it's not hard to pick up a toy or whatever and say hi miss, I want to buy this, how much does it cost? The more you do it, the more natural it'll feel. You'll be happy you did. My personal motivation is reminding myself that one day, she won't want my attention and I'll miss it, so make the most of it while you can.

I made specific times of the day where I played with them and then they had to self regulate. When you make a schedule at least for me it worked out well. Kids knew what to expect and what not to expect. One on one time is important for their growth And when you’re an older mom like me, you will see it’s important for you also. My granddaughter asked me to sit and watch cartoons with her. It feels awful to tell her no. But as I am in the craft room, I listen to our cartoons and talk to her about them.

in our community

Is this clever or cruel?

My husband and i were talking and with social media and the internet in general being a terrifying dumpster fire, we are trying to figure out the best way to keep our son safe while still teaching him how to safely be online and moderation.

We landed on the idea of giving him the 90's kid treatment. A computer in the living room for us to keep an eye on what hes doing online, and once we feel hes mature enough to hang with friends without adult supervision he gets a flip phone. When we feel he is responsible enough and he earns and saves up the money for the physical phone, case, and screen cover, then we will be happy to take him to get a smart phone.

I thought this was air tight, but now my brother says its cruel to give a kid a flip phone, and besides he can just use his friends phones at school.

My husband and i remember a time before the internet, and we remember having complete access to something no one understood yet. We saw unspeakable things and are always battling with the urge to put the phone and social media down. I dont want that for my son, especially with his brain so vulnerable still.

If your partners parent passes away

And you and that parent didn't get along are you still go to the funeral?

Not my situation!

Partner no longer wants baby #2

Before our son was born we originally both wanted minimum 2 kids but we were hoping for 3-4. My partner found the birth traumatic to watch and also struggled a lot with the newborn/baby stage. He no longer wants to have any more children and it’s completely breaking my heart. I need another baby. We’ve spoken about it a lot and the options. He said he wasn’t COMPLETELY closed off to it so I asked him to try and work through his feelings and reconsider his decision. He eventually said he definitely doesn’t want another. I know that I will always want one and my feelings will never change. Do we have to break up or does anyone know anything else I can do to help change his mind? Has anyone else’s partner said this and then changed their mind? I don’t want to break up because I adore him and our life together and I’d hate to split up our family for “selfish” reasons and make my son miss out on having both of us together but I just don’t know what to do

Nursery funding

My child turned 9 months last week. I applied for government funded hours nearly 2 months ago and so well within the required timeframe for the April term, however upon receiving my first invoice without the funding applied and having questioned this, I have now been informed that the stretched funding doesn’t start until 4th May.

Has anyone else been told it won’t start until May?

The government site states it should start from April 1st, and so I intentionally set my nursery start and return to work as the start of April for that reason, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to afford the nursery on my sole income without the funding

Jealous of my husband

I’m so jealous of him and it’s making me resentful. We have a ten week old and I’m jealous that he is at work all day. I’m jealous he can leave for lunch and actually eat an uninterrupted lunch. Take a phone call uninterrupted. Chat with a friend he runs in to uninterrupted. Even go to the bathroom when he wants uninterrupted. He comes home from work when he wants. He’s not on a set schedule. Some days are late some are early. It depends on when he’s done. I’m jealous he can come home at 10pm and shower, eat and go right to bed uninterrupted because I already have the baby asleep. He doesn’t have to worry about anything house wise or baby wise because I’ve done it all. Meanwhile I’m covered in puke and crap and smell like rotten milk. When he is home he is VERY active and helpful. So it’s not that. I’m just jealous his world hasn’t changed and mine has I guess. This isn’t something he’s doing wrong so I’m not sure how to get past this. I wish I could keep him home all day because that’s how helpful he is, but I understand he obv needs to work.

Calpol

My mum has just given my 4 year old calpol because he asked for it. He isn’t poorly (although was last week, been fine this week) he just likes the taste of it. My mum didn’t check, didn’t ask, just gave it to him and when I’ve questioned her she said “he asked for it”. Then quizzed 4 year old who said he asked for it because it tastes nice.

How would you react?