What to do, what to do!?

Question

My 2 year old daughter is getting harder & harder to entertain! I share custody with her biological father, so I only get her half of the week. The couple days I have to work, my parents watch her because she has the most amazing personality & they just love being around her. My dad makes pretty good money so my mom can afford to take my daughter out to fun places & do fun things. I think it might have a negative affect on my daughter though... because lately, she doesn't want to come home with me. She wants to stay at grandma's all the time & to be honest, I'm a little offended by it. We live in an apartment with no yard & no play place. But I've tried to make up for it by buying her cool interactive toys & play cubes for her room so she can play inside. Still... she doesn't like coming home. There's no park near by that I can take her to either. Basically - I do NOT live in a kid friendly area. What can I do to make our home more fun for my daughter (without breaking the bank)?

Answer 1

something i do with my daughter is we have a " movie night". i make some snacks, mix some virgin drinks and we watch a disney movie. or we play a game on our nintendo wii. maybe you can spend some of the time with  the grandparents and do some activities together so she isn't always bored with you or you can ask the father if she behaves the same way around him, and if not what she does to keep her occupied

Answer 2

Sounds like an issue is brewing here!

My advice would be to talk it over with your parents. They have to stop spoiling her. You don't want to look like the bad guy to you child, so you have to go to where it's coming from, the grand parents. They may see it too, but don't realize what the effect of giving a child everything at once does to the parent. Especially a parent who can only give what they can afford. Having your parent help wean her off of her spoiledness will make things much easier for you both. But that my opinion.

Answer 3

looks like you ruined the normal childish things for her shes more and more i think you have to bring her to a different area of the relation ship meaning your mother was the big spoiling adult you cannot compete with that "from what i heard " now try to take the friend's sit .. play with her like a friend of yours .. cook together play sharrad together play with customs let her ware funny makeup and let her try your shoes and you try hers ... i believe this is the only way to draw her back to you .. try to make her laugh " tickelling is really fun " chase her and let her chase you ... make funny voices and faces make fun of her favorite cartoons .. ..  

Answer 4

play with her

make forts with blankets and furniture and climb in and out of them with her.  

finger paint with pudding so she can eat it as well

make edible play doh together--there are recipes on the internet

make salt clay together and make ornaments for Christmas (you can use cookie cutters) then bake and then paint them.

let her help you cook--she can help dump in the ingredients and maybe some stirring or pick out the ingredients for smoothies or something.

Take her on a trip occasionally where there are fun kid things--like to the closest childrens museum.--There has to be something  an hour or less away that you can do once a month--chuckee cheeses, museum, zoo,

Also get on the internet with her there are some childrens websites that she may like---pbs kids is a good one and sesame street also has one.  Other websites for kids are playhouse disney and nickjr

even if she can't do them she may like them and sometimes there are clips that she can watch or you can do the games with her

A good toy to buy that will really keep her occupied is the preschool  activity center (i forget what it is called) it is for older kids then her but she can play with the piano part which has a variety of instrument sounds, silly sounds and drum pads.  The other part has a drawing table and it teaches you how to draw objects, upper and lowercase letters and numbers.  I think how to tell time--Both of my children love this and they are 17 months and  4 almost 5 -so you should get use out of it for awhile--

okay so it is $55 but it is worth it I think http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.d...

this looks cool to play with her doll and it is only $10

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.d...

maybe a kitchen center--you can get a nice but cheap one at the family dollar for 19.99 sometimes--they have one at walmart for that price but looks cheap-they also have more expensive ones obviously--and food packs are cheap as well--then she can make 'food' for you or play waitress--

get some old clothes of yours or some at goodwill or a thrift store and let her play dress up

just a few ideas

We do movie night as well--everyone really enjoys it and you can rent movies from a redbox usually at mc D's or walmart for $1 a day they don't have to be returned until 9pm.

Answer 5

you may have to find a new apartment with play ground. we looked for a more kid friendly place for our family.

Answer 6

Most kids do want a cuddly animal to play with.  Maybe try a hamster, if you're willing to care for it.  They're furry enough for your child to pet (I suggest you holding it though). And fun to watch if you have a nice habitrail and hamster ball.

If your daughter likes the toys your mother buys, see if you can bring a few of them home (maybe trade off some of the ones you've bought).  Talk to your mom to see what it is they do that your daughter loves so much.  Whatever it is, you're going to have to sit down and play with her.

Answer 7

if no parks then there must be museums or such lays theater etc find your niche with your daughter