Games for the Lazy Dad
For those of you who know my wife, you probably hear stories of my laziness. If you personally know me, you know I just believe myself to be efficient. I came up with (okay…maybe not ‘came up with’) several games for the lazy dad that I routinely use to keep my kids occupied while I’m busy, or tired, or whatever.
1. Busy? My favorite game for the lazy dad is fetch.
Nearly the oldest game known to man, fetch has been an excellent game to play with my kids when they’re between 12 and 30 months. For whatever reason, Nick thinks it’s the coolest thing to bring toys to me. I’m literally playing fetch with him with a green hat right now – he has a huge smile on his face every time he retrieves it – while I write this post. We’ve done this 15 times…tell me that isn’t awesome! I seriously love games for the lazy dad…seriously.
2. Tired? It’s nuh-nigh-time!
Face it – sometimes you’re just too tired to do something active with your kids. For me, this typically happens after meals. I’ll sprawl out on the nursery floor, and ask Lily to put me to bed. She’ll spend the next 5 minutes finding a blanket and a pillow, “reading” me a story, and tucking me in. She will then close the door and go in the living room. After about 30 seconds I’ll give out a fake cry and she’ll come in to ask what I need. I’ll ask for some water, a story, or for her to scare away the monsters, and she’ll spend a couple minutes taking care of it. Rinse and repeat 5 times before they get bored.
Lily likes this one because she gets to pretend to be the parent. It hasn’t caused her to start whining at bed time (i.e. starting to fake cry and ask for stuff), so it seems like a winner to me.
3. Disengaged? Hide-and-seek.
As an introvert, I need recharge time. As a parent, I feel obligated to play with my kids. Hide-and-seek kills two birds with one stone. Lily is at the age now where she can both hide and seek reasonably well, so this makes for a great game for around 20 minutes.
Which games for the lazy dad (or mom) do you play? Post in the comments!
