Help. I don't want to play with Barbie or Paw Patrol

She is not yet 3. She wants to play. Play with her. Relax when she's gone home.

Some children are happy to play independently from a very young age, others require interaction from an adult. I had one of each. My sympathy, however I think you are right to put limits on it. Ignore the tantrums and keep on going the way you are

Kate1949

She is not yet 3. She wants to play. Play with her. Relax when she's gone home.

Yes, this. At that age, you just go with the flow...

I’m exhausted just reading about how much you do! Have you tried sitting with her to watch a tv programme or dvd? That way you’re still involved and interacting with her, but it’s a bit of a break and less taxing on you?

Children are adorable at that age. However, if you hate playing with Barbie etc., then I suggest you carry on as you are, ie playing for a while, then doing something else. Your granddaughter needs to learn to amuse herself some of the time. If she doesn’t, the whole family will be held to ransom. The trouble is, you may encourage her to play alone for short periods, but I expect her parents will carry on as they always have.
Like you, I wasn’t a fan of the things your granddaughter wants to do, so after doing her choice of play for a reasonable time, I did tempt her into doing other things.
Sounds to me like you are doing a good job, playing with her, taking her out etc. The only other thing I would say is, she will grow quickly and this won’t be a problem for ever. Make the most of it. My beloved granddaughter is now 23 and I would give a lot for her to be three again, although I remember wishing she was older at the time! There’s no pleasing us sometimes, is there?

She’s only 3 and for just one day a week, I’d play with whatever she asks. I think it’s too soon to expect her to be fully engrossed in playing on her own.
When I had weekends with DGS1, everything else was set aside and I gave him 100% of my attention. It wasn’t a lot to ask.

I’m not great at playing with small children so I understand how you feel. Some children do want adult interaction though. I’ve found that a sand egg timer is a handy tool for coming to a compromise. The child can see the amount of time left (you can get sets that have various timings on them) and hopefully she’ll learnt to enjoy the allocated time before you need to go and do whatever is calling to be done.

I'm going to try to offer advice without teaching a granny to suck eggs .

I had two younger siblings so we usually played together but I had an only child and my step-son has one daughter who is now 6 years old. As you probably know, at around 3 kids start to have opinions and learn to play "pretend" so their toys become very important to them. My step-granddaughter became obsessed with Paw Patrol and Peppa we spent what seemed like hours playing with the figures and the vehicles. My son was the same, he would spend a long time playing "shops" with coins and his toys - I was the customer and he was the shopkeeper. Sometimes I would have to put a time limit on this because it seemed to last forever!

Role playing is important at this age, so I would advise spending more than 10 - 15 minutes on this as it develops their conversation and thinking skills. If she is asking you to play, she wants you to join in, like a playmate, so make the most of it. If she sees you take an interest in what she likes, she'll be more inclined to do other things with you too such as cooking and reading because she'll know you're taking an interest in what she likes. It can be boring sometimes but you'll reap the rewards.

I hope this helps.

Oh I used to love this age when I could play Barbie’s or Lego or ‘pretend’ anything sit under the table with a a sheet over it Hide and seek all over the house
When they got to about 5 I used to have to sit still while they styled my hair I used to have to pretend having it washed and
I d end up with pegs, curlers elastic bands and bunches all over the place kept them busy for ages I used to think we d had a very successful day even if my hair was pulled and tugged into all sort of shapes
She’s very young and going through a phase she wants company I d suggest that you play with her and enjoy it it’s gone in a flash My are all grown up and flown I d love to be back playing Barbies again

Yes, I felt the same about playing dinosaurs with 3 year old Gds. So distractions were needed after about 10 minutes, let’s go to the park, or make some fairy cakes. That was always popular, albeit invariably on the messy side.

She goes to nursery for 4 days a week where there always other children and adults to play with. The adults don’t often say no because playing is what they are paid to do!

So it’s not surprising her expectations are the same at home😁

Myself I always found role play with children very tedious and I know I wasn’t very good at it and they found me unsatisfactory. Like you I was a doing sort of person

Go along with her play until you can’t do anymore and then do something else seems reasonable to me.

Am afraid my GCs are the same, one wants me to play at taking baby to nursery/the shops/the play park and looking after her when she is poorly, is a never ending game, and the other wants me to play Spider-Man or superman which involves racing round with a tea towel tucked into his top to look like a cape whilst I have to need rescuing from sone evil villain.
My problem is I am no good at getting down to floor level, or I find it hard to get back up again, and most games involve getting on the floor. So I get out the play doh or the crayons and paper on the dining room table and we create stuff or we make scones or biscuits. Another good option is a walk looking for conkers in this season.

When ours were small, the children learned PDQ that adults just won't play with someone who screams rude demands , hits, throws toys, knocks the game over etc.

You sound like you have found a good mix of activities for your day together.

I did loads with my kids and have very happy memories of dressing up boxes, “treasure box” of egg boxes, loo roll middles, glitter, glue, cardboard etc. We did loads of painting, colouring, making stuff and we also used to walk most days to feed the ducks and go on the play park. I think fresh air and running around tires them out so they look forward to a quiet period.

When I had other stuff to do like cooking or hanging washing out I just told them it was time to play without me. I can’t remember it ever being a problem. They soon learned the rules! 😉

Just value it as it’s a very precious time and you are privileged
It ll never return unless you’re lucky enough to have great grandkids and you’re not too old to enjoy them It lasts such a short time before you know it it ll be after school clubs and other friends houses and you ll soon be redundant and won’t have to make the sacrifice of a bit of grandaughters favourite play toys….. and then if you have any boy grandkids it ll be standing in the wind and rain and cold every Saturday watching him play football
I d give a thousand pound to be back on the football pitch cheering those little legs on and making slides from chair to chair for actionman to escape on
Now it’s peppa pig and paw patrol and dinosaurs you lucky lady

Playmobil and Brio I spent hours building tracks and making up stories.
Isn’t that how they learn?
Wish I’d had Barbies, I would have enjoyed them better than hot wheels….

Well the whole thing of having your grandchild is to enjoy it.

So if Paw Patrol leaves you dreading the day or wanting to bang your head against the wall then just do other stuff you can both enjoy.

I guess those who say make the most of it did enjoy pretend games themselves🙂

I know how you feel. I had three daughters, 5 years apart, but they would always amuse themselves. I would play with them but they never asked me.
The same for my 5 elder grandchildren except for one who would stick to my side and never play with his siblings except to torment them. I would sit and start making a house with Lego and suggest he finish it, which he had no inclination to do. It drove me mad.

Noooo!
Barbie is horrible!
🤕
But if you must play with Barbie you could have a make party food play doh activity.
Sitting, chopping etc.
That always seemed to go down well here.

How well I remember it, only in DGD's case it was 'All creatures Great and Small. I played the vet, she played helen and two dolls played the children. She played it, and played it and played it.

Every so often I would suggest that James had to go off and see a poorly cow. I would get about a 30 second break before being told very firmly that the cow was better now.

I was not a child caring grandmother so was not faced with it all day every day. You have my sympathy IvyGeranium.

But they do grow out of it - eventually.

You have my sympathies our DGD only ever wanted to play role play Vets, schools, airports to name a few. They were never interested in the TV.
I used to say Grandmas having a coffee break now, then they would sit either side of me peering into my cup to see how much I had left, bless ‘em it’s over in a flash though.

Playing barbie is how you bond with her.

She is almost 3, being bossy is normal

Not all adults enjoy doing what the kids ask - please do think about your time together with her now as you will miss it in the future

Presumably there are other children at soft play who are on the slides etc so you could have more of a break there. Our local soft play doesn’t allow adults on the equipment as it takes up space needed for little ones and some adults can be a bit too boisterous. If she goes to nursery she’ll be used to playing with children anyway. And asking her to bake cakes when she’s fully involved with Barbie etc - well that’s your choice not hers. While you can let her know that a tantrum is not acceptable try being led by her sometimes even if it doesn’t interest you so much. You can still have a cuppa while Paw Patrol pups are having a tea party or, like someone else suggested, put that TV programme on for half an hour so you can both have a break. I’m surprised how much my GC learn from occasional quality children’s TV programmes. She’s probably tired as well after all that activity so make allowances for her age, maybe you’re trying to cram in too much activity for her.