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I feel like playing with your children and entertaining them constantly is a relatively new concept. Seems like back in the old days, kids were left to play alone or had a lot of chores to help out.

If the kids screamed and tantrumed, the parents let them work it out for themselves. There was far less pressure to constantly entertain/engage your kids. And kids were much less coddled back then.

I have no idea how they did it. But I also can't imagine how anyone has more than two kids right now. I am absolutely falling apart with one relatively well behaved toddler and one very needy newborn and a very helpful husband.

@Foodnerd81: it's so early, I have been thinking about this (except it's the three year old that's needy here) and just concluded that if we wait another three years then the oldest will be in elementary school and just more self sufficient and that's how it'll work out. (Older lo is 3, younger is almost 3 mo) Hugs your way! I'm sure it'll work out just fine!

Life was different and expectations were different. My mom never entertained us or played with us. We were taken care of as in fed, clothed, and loved, but my mom rarely played with us. The adults and taking care of the house were the top priorities. Saturdays were for cleaning and grocery shopping and Sundays were for church and visiting my grandmother. Fun for us was a distant third. Children are much more central to lives now. It's just a totally different world.

I agree with there just being different expectations.

And we know more today. Like my grandma gave all her kids rice cereal in their bottles at4 weeks so they would sleep through the night. Rum on their gums when teething. Honey on their pacifiers so they would take them. Straight to formula because "I didn't have time to breastfeed!" I don't know if that's actually a time saver, lol. But she said no one breastfed then.

Different times!

I agree, different expectations and different way of life. Parenting was different then. My mom got a lot of judgement from her parents in the early nineties when she was breastfeeding, refusing to do cry it out, and spending most of her time playing with us.

The other thing my mom reminds me is that people lead much simpler lives. They didn't have boxes of Christmas decorations that they had to put up and put away. They didn't throw elaborate birthday parties. There wasn't unnecessary clutter. Even things like keeping up with the cell phone bill wasn't an issue.

I was never allowed in my parents room and had a strict bedtime, which is something that is super rare today with all the co-sleeping and kids staying up as late as adults. I was also allowed to watch a ton of TV growing up, otherwise my mom couldn't have gotten anything done. And my parents also never played with me. If I wanted a play mate I went outside and knocked on a neighbors door. Now everything is over scheduled and adult participation is normal and expected.