staying at home all day with my little one makes me feel like i should be with him at all times when he's awake. it's my job, right? but sometimes when he's playing on his own in the living room or on the deck, i leave him to play by himself. i feel a little guilty about it. then i read an article about independent play and how it's important for kids to learn to play on their own. parents should help develop this in their children by giving them space when they go off to play by themselves. well that totally makes sense. it was a "duh" moment where i asked myself, "why did i think i needed to be with him constantly again?"
now when he plays on his own (like right now, he's carrying a metal spoon around and banging it on as many things as he can find), i don't feel like a bad mother to be blogging...i'm a fantastic mother. haha. (i know there's a balance to this - don't worry.) but seriously, independent play is a good thing to know about.
3 comments:
you are a fantastic mom :) love the post!
I noticed this about Nevin around 4 mos - he would get in a 'zone' where he was focussed on his play and sustained the activity on his own for 10-15 minutes - a really long time for a little guy. I started to consciously make choices not to interrupt Nevin when he was in the 'zone' - no suggestions of play I think might be better, the diaper change can wait and if he was hungry he wouldn't be so happy to be playing right now. Maybe it was just Nevin's personality - but his ability to stay in the zone and play by himself stretched and stretched. I love listening to his commentary - he tells stories to himself about his play now, and gives his little men or trucks or whatever, voices. I really think being conscious about letting your baby learn to play by themselves rather than jumping in with your better idea helps them develop the kind of focus they'll need to learn and problem solve. So keep up the good work!!
oh thank God....I guess I'm a good mom too!
:D
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