A few weeks ago I was watching Isaac push his trains around the track, and for some reason I grabbed his little fireman action figure and started talking to the train like he was Isaac. Whenever a train passes by our house he runs out on the balcony and starts talking to or about the cool freight train. So I was saying "Hi freight train, thanks for coming by my house" etc. etc. Well this game really took off. Isaac loves it. I hate it. I'm sorry, but I just don't really wanna sit and watch Isaac play trains, and occassionally talk to the train as the fireman. The first thing he says every morning is "Let's play fireman game!" and I want to run and hide...or at least hide the fireman so I never have to play this game again. I played it with him during Noah's entire nap yesterday--a full hour and a half--and then Dave came home from work and took over and played at least another 30 minutes. Seriously? Is it really that fun?
NO.
I do not understand the attraction of this game. Plus we went to the library last week and got a bunch of non-fiction train books so that now he uses all the right words: the engine is the locomotive, and the engineer sits in the cab of the locomotive...when there's more than one engine it's called a consist. And on the back of the train is FRED, or the flashing rear end device that Isaac so loves. Although he hasn't figured out that it's just a light yet. When we call it Fred, he thinks there's a person on the back of each train. And he's very particular about whether it's a freight train or a passenger train. I really like that Isaac has a hobby, something he is so passionate about...but I do wish he could be passionate without me sitting by and watching all the time. When do kids learn to play by themselves, anyway? So we sit for hours every day and play this dumb game and I'm so tired of it. Plus it always ends the same way: Noah tries to play with a toy of Isaac's (it doesn't matter what, any toy will do) and Isaac freaks out on him. If he can't share his toys, I won't play the game and we leave his room. Then Isaac throws a fit.
I hate fireman game.
6 comments:
Ugh! Can't help but laugh about this because I've been caught in this trap many a time! Plus, I'm sorry to tell you that Hannah still has a hard time playing alone. I think it's a "first child" thing (for her at least) because Charlie prefers playing with me or someone else but he will play alone too and Hannah usually won't. Anyway, I'm excited to see you in a few days and I can't wait to see your house!
Wow, an hour and a half. Fireman must be a fun game.
About posting pictures so the words post to the right or left...when you upload the picture there is a "Choose a Layout" option and just select the one you want. (It's next to where you pick the size of the photo).
Depending on the web browser you use there sometimes are different options...
Luke's that way too, Abby and even Kate play fine by themselves but he wants me more than anyone else. Here's an idea though: Agree that you'll play with him for say 15 minutes or half and hour every day(whatever you can stand) and set the timer and when the timer goes off you do something else. If he freaks out when you leave you could also try a reward chart where if he doesn't fuss when time's up he gets a sticker and after 5 stickers of so he earns an extra 15 minutes with you the next time. I'm all about the bribe.
My nephew was/is obsessed with Thomas the Train and everything related to trains. You should try renting some of those videos from the Video Store... that way when he wants to play you can put on the video and tell him to play along with the show... atleast it might alleviate some of the "fireman game" (for you.)
Carter is the same way, even at 17 months. So it must be a "first child" thing because Carter's cousins that are the same age but are the youngest in their families can play by themselves for at least an hour. I only wish!!!
I disagree. Not a first child thing in this family. (: Caleb has liked playing by himself for years now. Maybe it's because I never played with him that much. You're right Em, it's really hard to sit there for a long time and "pretend" GOSH! I haven't done that for years, how the heck am I supposed to get back into that 'childish' frame of mind? I'm really bad at it. But then I was watching a Supernanny episode and I realized how much the kids LOVE spending time with you and how much they love having you there to play with them. That's why Isaac loves it so much. He just loves seeing that you love trains as much as he does and that you show a genuine interest in that.
So next time you do something that your kids ask for time and time again, think of it as a compliment and feel good that you found something that made your kids really happy.
-Holly
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