I don't like playing with my children.
Not just my children, I don't like playing. I'm a firm believer in children being independent, and learning to entertain themselves...at least that is what I tell myself when I feel guilty about not playing with my children.
Thankfully, for my children, Hubby does a great job at playing with them, and our children know this. Rarely, will they ask me to play, unless it is a board game, which I do enjoy playing. EM wants a tea party, she asks Dad. ED or JT want to build a Lego village, they ask Dad. They want someone to color with them, they ask Dad.
Every now and then EM will ask me to help her with a puzzle. This is humorous since I've never been a puzzle person and my 4-year-old works on 100 piece puzzles. What happens is I get her started; find the corners, put together the edges, at which time my attention has waned and she is going strong in finishing the puzzle.
So, there it is. I don't like playing with my children (or any children.) Does this make me a bad parent? Possibly. Then again, on the scale of good and bad, I think some of my better parenting qualities help to balance out my not so good qualities. And, that is what we, as parents, need to remember. We can't do everything, perfectly, all the time, but what we can do well far outweighs our weaknesses.
1 comment:
I'm not big on playing either... I'll play for a few minutes, but I'd rather just watch them play. We're not bad parents... just parents encouraging independence! :-D
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