“Mommy, do you want to play with me?”
It is the 4 year-old talking. I just sat down on the couch.
“No thanks honey, not really.” And I’m not coming over there, so get back to your My Little Ponies.
“Ohhhhh. Why?” …Why?
- Cause I still have a sorta-bad knee from a pep rally dancing-related accident (Yes, that is what I said). I don’t love sitting on the ground.
- Cause you repeat the same mini-songs over and over while playing till I wanna put on my headphones and curl up into a ball.
- Cause I find it unjust that you dictate what we play, and how we play, and for how long. Maybe I’d like to decide. Yes I know you’re 4.
- Cause I really don’t like playing with you.
Look, I realize you’re a bright kid for your age, and I should be encouraging your vocab/self-esteem/emotional development. But…
No. #badmommy
Hi. My name is Meg, and I hate playing with my children.
“Hi, you horrid, ungrateful biotch, do you realize how lucky you are to even HAVE children? You know people who have wanted kids for years! Your kids are healthy and adorable. You are going to miss these days. You are going to regret- ”
SHHHHHH! SORRY, I can’t hear you over the sound of me not doing the voices for Barbies. I work outside the home, away from my children, with other people’s children all day. So yeah, no, sorry. I’ll just be over here on the couch updating my Facebook status with something that totally sounds like I’m an involved mother. I hope I don’t actually do this.
My older one is a deep emotional well of empathy and fairy stories that smack of telenovelas. She’s my drama kid. Yes, Everybody says they hate drama. Everything is feelings, conflicts, one crisis after another that we have to solve as part of the game. And it’s all quite loud.
The little one is less plot-driven and more about throwing small toys around like confetti. God help you, though, if you put the Rapunzel figurine next to the Mario figurine, cause Mommeeeeee. That’s. Not.Where. They. Go.
Then there’s the passive-aggressive crap they dish out like mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving: The 4 year-old is, as this moment,singing a self-composed refrain that goes, “when you need help, you just ask a grownup and they’ll heeeeeelllp yooooouuuu”.
Did we bother our own parents this much? Hubby says no, that he and his siblings did not. But there were three of them. Well my poor, deprived children are NOT getting another sibling to entertain them. That sounds like entirely too much work for me. #nothappening
I am not good at playing stuff and I have the feeling I’m not alone in this, in Parent World.
Oh good, now she’s singing about “If you just say PLEEEEZE a grownup with helllllp yoooo”. #toosmart
“I don’t want to play with you right now, hon.” Damn it. Now I feel bad. #stillnothappening
“But Mom, you are the best. You are the BEST…” #damnit
Goodbye, couch. “Damn it…”
I like reading. I like singing. I like talking. I don’t like playing. What’s wrong with me? Probably nothing, but you can chime in using the comment thingy below and tell me how you feel about it. You know you want to…
I don’t like to play like that either. Didn’t with my kids. I really enjoyed playing with the girls before they started talking and being so bossy about everything. I don’t trust adults who say they like to play Barbie with their kids! 😉
Normal thoughts of a mom who works all day with other peoples’ kids, to whom she can’t really say no. Playing with your children can be fun–but it goes on forever and sometimes, you need breaks for you. I see you can still be guilt-tripped into it anyway, like most parents.
Does “Mommy, pay attention to me” come up in your memory anywhere? Did you miss it when I said “no”?
Oh, BTW, not too far in the distant time, you will be begging them to do something, anything with you.