Wednesday, September 2, 2009

What happened to my kid?

Staying at home has proven to be quite a task for me. And quite a task for Allison.

Being 16 months apart from her sister Ella, she's never been alone. She's been separated from Ella before, due to being in different classrooms at school, but never alone. Karl is here of course, but he's not quite the playmate yet.

I see a different person in Allison than I've been used to. What a difference. Usually she is doing everything possible to make Ella happy (Ella is a ~bossy~ little girl) and now I see her asserting her independence. It's a goood thing.

She's having a lot of difficulty in keeping herself busy though. I find she just tries to follow me around no matter what I'm doing. She simply doesn't know how to play by herself. While I'm trying to spend quality mommy/allie time, I also am allowing her free time to amuse herself. I hope she is able to figure it out.

10 comments:

Kaci said...

She'll figure it out. Are there things you can guide her to as reminders/suggestions that they are there and she might enjoy them by herself (barbies, playdoh, coloring, fingerpaint, dress up, books, etc.)?

Sarah said...

Aw, poor thing! Maybe with a little encouragement, she can learn to play independently. Does she like to color? I loved to color, play with Play-doh, do puzzles, or read all by myself as a child (even though I had siblings). :)

areyoukiddingme said...

It will be such a useful skill - to learn to be by yourself for a period of time. I think it's hard for social people to learn that skill. (I'm not very social, so I've always been able to entertain myself. Well, I'm also the youngest, and no one was interested in entertaining me.) Plus, it's new to her - once Allie figures out that all the stuff is hers while Ella's in school, she may start taking advantage.

I have a sister who is 16 months older than I am. When we were toddlers, she adored me, and I loved her right back. When she went to school, she decided she didn't like me any more (peer pressure, I think), and that kind of rejection has stuck with me my whole life. We also haven't gotten along too well since we were about 10 and 11. Cautionary tale...

Liz said...

I hear ya. We have such a hard time convincing our daughter that it's not punishment when we tell her to play by herself. She's 4 and her brother is only 6 months, so this is an ongoing issue with us. It's the downside of a SAHD instead of daycare.

Kristin said...

She will figure it out. It just takes time.

CanadianMama said...

Aww, that is so sweet that they are so close. My sister and I wern't close at all growing up and I really wish we would have been!

Your kids are lucky!

Jules said...

I've found it interesting as well to acquaint myself more with the Camryn away from big sister Emma. It's been kind of fun, but we have the same problem. She wants me to entertain her around the clock :)

jenn said...

She'll get the hang of it. My sister & I are 2-1/2 years apart & while that is much different than your girls, we were each other's only playmate a lot. I loved being on my own & my sister ended up getting very imaginative & loving to people watch when left to her own devices.

How wonderful getting to know a whole new 'Allie'!

Jamie said...

I bet she doesn't even realize what a big change this is for her little world.

I bet a whole new Allison will emerge by next summer!

Anonymous said...

herbal viagra reviews buy sublingual viagra online viagra for sale without a prescription cialis v s viagra which is better cialis or viagra viagra and hearing loss women does viagra work free viagra samples before buying viagra online uk buy viagra meds online viagra generique suppliers of viagra where to buy viagra cialis v s viagra