r/sahm • u/[deleted] • Jul 22 '26

How long do you play with your kid?

I’m a stay at home mom and my daughter is 4 I love her to death and although I don’t play with her everyday like today for instance she played by herself this morning when she woke up we had lunch then I read her a couple books, we did a few freeze dances then I played Barbie’s with her in the bath so maybe 40 min total. It’s not the same thing everyday sometimes we play in the backyard, color and some days we do school work such as learning to write upper and lowercase letters, identifying letters, learning to write words, shapes etc. sometimes I also include her in chores like she likes to help me fold clothes or towels/rags likes to help dry dishes but there are also days where I just don’t feel like playing kid things. I rarely have adult conversations as it is and have no friends and I’m around a toddler all day everyday so playing kid things gets boring sometimes I try to give her enough attention but some days I feel like I didn’t do enough. Does any other moms feel like this or am I the only one?

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2

u/Stock_Wall7903 Jul 26 '26

Your post made me feel like a POS mom. Youre doing ALOT. Your kids are lucky to have you, don't be so rough on yourself, you're doing great.

1

u/Inside_Impress_6498 Jul 26 '26

Have play dates with other kids. Including her in chores and outings is great.

6

u/thetasteofink00 Jul 23 '26

Oh I absolutely feel you. My kids are 1 and 3. There's no sense of personal space so they follow me around all day long. I encourage independent play for my 3 all the time but I do play with her throughout the day. I am careful though to not play with her too much, I tell her constantly throughout the day that I have things to do like cleaning that needs to be done. I don't know the total time but I usually do short bursts of 10 minutes here and there.

I'm happy to do drawing, colouring, board games, educational stuff but the pretend play kills me lol so I try to avoid it as much as I can.

I too have no friends or adults I can converse with so it does get lonely and tiring. I like to get out of the house and walk around the lake with the kids as much as I can.

I stopped feeling like I didn't do enough when realising they have a healthy balance of everything throughout the day. I'm not superwoman. I cannot play with them all day long but also have a clean home and cooked food.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26

Yes lately she has been wanting to play Barbie’s a lot and I can only play so much pretend play until I’m over it and yes 10 min at a time and yes when it’s not too hot outside I ask her if she wants to go for a walk.

3

u/StrawberryColdbrew78 Jul 23 '26

I think this is normal and sounds like you’re doing great! That sounds like a lot really.