My little boy plays well... as long as I am sitting next to him keeping him engaged. If I get up for any reason he also gets up. If I go into the kitchen to get a drink, he wants a drink or he wants me to pick him up and look around the countertops. If I sit on the couch, he wants me to get back on the floor with him. It's really not a good situation, and it's one that I swore would never happen. Never say never, I guess.
So, in order to keep my sanity (or what's left of it) I have set two goals for us.
1) My first goal is for him to sit and play independently for twenty minutes at a stretch.
I still want to play with him and plan on doing so, but.... not only is it important to his development to play alone, it is also important to my sanity. And it will become even more important to my sanity when Baby Brother arrives in a few weeks.
2) My second goal is for him to play with something that he is actually meant to play with.
He will "play" by taking everything off the bottom shelf of the refrigerator and stacking the bottles on the floor for hours, if I allow it. But I want him to play with his things, his blocks, his Little People, his books, etc. I don't mind or forbid exploration of our house, I even encourage it lots of the time, but my goal is for him to use his possessions to entertain himself.
These two goals are simple, necessary, and achievable. I'm not setting either of us up for failure and I know that we're all going to be much happier when we reach them.
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