Good point by Matthewjb. Kryton jnr loves loading up the dishwasher, and helping to cook roast dinners. For some reason he likes hoovering too.

Same as most really. I do the energetic things, the climbing trees, the going out biking, the playing in the park. Mrs Weeksy does the colouring in, painting, etc.

Me and my lad love baking muffins, however he loves chopping logs more… even though the best part he can manage is making mess from bark all over the floor… he thinks he’s helping. He loves inflating my tyres 🙂

I struggle though even with ‘car’ games…. “Right daddy, we’ll race to here, then we have to jump like this… then if that works we have to ….. ” i’m thinking FFS mate, just get on with it hey !

Last night was hysterical though, playing hide and seek…. my little lad ended up in the washing basket…. Me and the wife were cracking up pretending not to find him as the washing basket was shaking as he was trying to stop laughing and covering up his giggle fits !!!

if i have to read the gruffalo one more time………………

Amateur, read it. I know it word for word without the book…

I think I like the story more than the boy does really.

Mine love inflating tyres too, but they use the track pump rather than the compressor…

Get the ‘imaginext Batcave’.
It’s awesome – lifts that go up and down. Joker, Batman, Robin – battles galore.
I We could spend hours playing with it….!

DrP

(Yes, I know you’ve a girlie 😛 )

“William Worm pops up from the ground…”

+1 for encouraging/letting her help around the house/garden. Our little beast has been doing this for the last few months and really gets into it. Plus I think it helps them better understand how things work, where things go, and what’s “right” etc. E.g. hoovering, tidying up, getting the shopping in, stacking the fridge/cupboards, weeding, carrying the lawnmower collector … Makes them feel more part of the family unit too.

I get the offspring involved in doing stuff I’m already doing – filling the dishwasher, making bread, going to B&Q to find light bulbs, whatever. That’s always a good way to keep her occupied. Playing, well we really got her toys we like playing with – Brio trains, marble runs, that kind of thing, so it’s not really a chore. We have a game with dominoes, I build a tower, she waits patiently then knocks it over. Fun for me as I can experiment with different tower designs to get it as high as possible.

Ask her what kind of animal / vehicle she is – guess silly ones. “Are you an aardvark?” “Are you a combine harvester?” When she picks up a building block, ask her what colour it is (again, silly guesses for amusement value), get her to count the sides. Explain stuff – even if she doesn’t understand it. Mine mentioned the blue sky today so told her about Rayleigh scattering. It’s amazing how much little brains soak up, and they enjoy just knowing stuff, doesn’t matter what it is.

I found it helps a lot of get into the right state of mind – don’t think about what else you could be doing with your time, think about how this time will pass so you need to enjoy it while you can.

Will you adopt me, Ben? 🙂

I am the same as you, bores me loads doing kids playing. Husband is amazing at it though!

Just focus on what you like doing – e.g. I do mostly like going out with them, but I also like cooking.

Husband doesn’t like playing people and dollies though, nor do I, do if there is an extended game of people and houses to be played she has to do it on her own <evil>. Youngest (2) has an older brother, so there is lots of playing trains, lego, dinosaurs, cars round here. Daughter seems to like it (though she is also into dolls and people type role plays more than brother). Could you get more boy toys? Maybe you’d like that more?

Or just have another kid. Ours entertain each other, it’s awesome!

I want that batcave.

completely normal, but in this house it’s the other way round, Rich is way better at playing than I am!

Woah there, we’re onto the second page and no one has mentioned TV? It’s great, just sit them down watching trashy cartoons, they get glued to it for hours.