Janeene - playing with your daughter

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--- Janeene McGrandy wrote:

>

>

> Just the other day, my 4 year old had to sit and watch 8 hours of movies, and

accepted

that even though she was " sad because she just wants me to play with her " ,

because I

could not move because of my pain level that day.  I felt like a complete

failure! 

Janeene -

I feel for you. You are NOT a failure. But maybe we could brainstorm some

ideas of

things you could do to interact with your daughter that wouldn't involve you

moving. As

long as she has your attention, she will be happy - she doesn't need you to

crawl around

on the floor or run in the yard to " play. "

I'm going to throw out some ideas - maybe others here would pitch in some of

their own?

I know Gwen has posted some great ideas here from her own experience - she isn't

posting much these days, but perhaps she'll see this and add to the list.

Can you have her lie gently next to you in bed and read stories together? This

is a great

age where they want to hear the same stories over and over and over again -

hours can

pass doing this, and you're helping build her brain and teach her reading skills

at the

same time! You could even try making up stories together - another great

brain-builder.

You could let her dress up and do a fashion show for you that you watch and

applaud

from bed.

You could both draw with crayons - you on a lapboard in your bed, her on the

floor - and

share your pictures and the stories behind them.

If you have a CD player near your bed (or can use your laptop to play them)

listen to age-

appropriate music together and learn the words and sing them together. Or let

her

perform for you after she learns a new song.

She could put on a play for you - you could come up with the story together and

then she

could act out the parts.

I spent at least three hours on the bed one day recently with my four-year-old

great nephew (he calls me " Uncle Cheryl " - hasn't got the gender thing worked

out yet, isn't that

adorable!) pretending it was a " raft. " We sat lookout and pretended we could

see all kinds

of things from our " raft " as it floated through the ocean. We " fished " off the

edge of the

bed (with imaginary fishing poles) then we landed at an " island " and he built a

tent with a

blanket and a chair on the floor and built an imaginary fire and " cooked " and

served the

fish. We ate imaginary fish off imaginary plates - no cleanup! All I had to do

was lie there

and pretend to " fish " and give him the " fish " to put in the imaginary bucket -

he did all the

work and never noticed that I never moved off the pillow!

At that age, they have so much energy and so much imagination. If you just give

her

suggestions, she'll probably create an entire world for you, and you'll never

have to move.

She'll love fetching things to create the fun, as long as you're giving her

attention.

Does anyone else have other ideas for free, fun things to do with a child this

age that can

be managed from bed or the couch?

Cheryl in AZ

Moderator