How much pretend play do you actually do with your toddler?
I play with my toddler a lot, and now that he’s 3 years and 7 months old, he’s really into pretend play. We spend a lot of time making up stories, using different voices, pretending we’re at school, pretending it’s Easter and we will go after pretend eggs, etc. I’ll go with whatever he wants to play.
He goes to school and plays a lot there with his friends, but back from school he wants to keep playing, so I do it every single day and specially on weekends.
The problem is that my husband isn’t really into imaginative play, so I’m the default playmate all the time. Lately I’ve been wondering: how do one and done parents keep up with the constant demand for pretend play? I love spending time with my son, but after an hour or two, I’m mentally (sometimes also physically) exhausted.
Sometimes I catch myself wondering if this is a problem I wouldn’t have if I had more than one child.
Are you guys playing with your kids or are they pretty much independent players? How much pretend play do you actually do with your toddler?
Posted Jul 11, 2026, 1:16 PM UTC