Play at Work

We got in some play time this morning, which was really nice. I keep feeling like I don’t really get that much time to just play with Wee Laddie so I really enjoyed it. We were having a great morning until he refused to put his toys away when I asked him to (which I sometimes do during the day if he has gotten out lots of stuff)… and it went downhill from there. He had a huge crying fit after lunch because he wanted to open the umbrella but refused to ask nicely. I am so anti-whining that I try to be super-consistent about not giving in when he cries or whines, and he just wouldn’t stop.

He took about an hour-long nap, then woke and cried for like 15 minutes. Not like him, and I still don’t know why. I ended up feeling grumpy most of the day.

I recently came across a book called “Playful Parenting” and asked my moms group about it. Turns out one of them thought it was a great book, so we ordered it. I’m not very far into it yet but it definitely has some fun ideas, so I’m going to work on implementing more play into our routine (both as a “scheduled” kind of a thing and as an alternative to time-outs and arguing).

Note: As I post this (much later than I wrote it, of course), I can say that it was probably the morning playtime that led to the crying jags, and that it’s probably a good sign. According to the aforementioned book, good playtime can often lead to crying because your child may have unresolved emotions about something that had happened previously. The playtime makes them feel connected to you, which opens them up to more emotions and helps them feel comfortable in processing that stuff with you. So that’s probably why we had such a rough day.

Here’s me at nearly 16 weeks (lab’s due date). I know, I'm enormous!




And one of Wee Laddie, who just couldn't stand to not be part of a photo shoot.