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TL;DR Have fun together, but back off sometimes and just watch. And when you're too exhausted, just say so. I think your son is lucky to have a dad that is so engaged. You're certainly not doing a bad job of it! You just need to steal Iron Man's power source and put it in your chest. If that can't be accomplished, then you could try some of these ideas: ...

At that age, it is normal to spend pretty much all her waking time trying to interact with her - remember, the more interaction she has with you, your wife and others now, the faster her brain will develop, and the easier it is for her to learn social skills. That said, be sensible about it - you don't both need to be with her, so take turns - each of you ...

If only you could bottle and sell some of that excess energy, you'd be rich! Sometimes you just need to explain to the child that they have to play on their own for a while. They won't like it but after 5 minutes alone they'll usually find something with which to amuse themselves. The hardest part is for you to not feel guilty during those 5 minutes. ...

I think there are two separate factors here: one is imposing an appropriate amount of alone time as a consequence for an infraction, which is easy, because after the appropriate amount of time on his own, one or other of you (parents) can join him so he's not alone but is also not bugging his sister. The harder question is how to get an extrovert child to ...

Remember that dealing with disappointment is another important life lesson parents need to teach. You don't have to be a martyr to be a good parent. If you want to spend more time with him without exhausting yourself, a few things you can try are: Just be a spectator. Tell him you need to rest for a while, but you will watch him, or at least stay in the ...

What a clever child you have! He understands the shampoo is to be used in the bath, so he tried to take a bath in order to play with it. That is fabulous! I do understand the problem, but I do think you should take a moment to recognize this problem is stemming from the fact that your child does understand what you have told him, each thing has a place ...

Why is she having to race to a bag of toys to get "the best one?" in the first place? If she is just having this problem at parties then it really isn't a problem. She just doesn't like these kinds of games. Make sure to play OTHER less competitive types of games at her own party. she can choose to participate at other parties or not. If this is part of ...

Try reading some of Greenspan's books about his Floortime approach. You can begin to put 'conflict' into the child's play to promote learning. Let the child 'practice' life through his play. So, if you're playing his favorite car smashing game, grab a dinosaur toy instead. "Rawr, you can keep playing your silly games little humans, but I am going to eat you ...

So in addition to the other wonderful advice offered already. If it is just attention they want, it is often possible to involve your kids in what it is you need to do. Even if the request is, "Will you play with us Dad?" your answer can be, "Actually, I could use your help with something. Will you help me so I can get this done?" For example, if you are ...

The manufacturer's information should have instructions, but based on what I remember from ours, if you set it so his knees are slightly bent when he sits down in it and the seat part no longer supports him if he stands up, it should be good (photo looks like you've got it right). I've also heard (from my sis whose baby just turned one) the toe thing is ...

I can sympathize, my daughter is 15 months and seems to be able to go go go. My life-savers are my local playgroup and just going out for a walk/shopping/errands. I try to let her do things herself as much as possible, but the best thing is just to have other people around to distract her from seeking my attention for at least a couple of hours so I can ...

Ages two and three's are classified as the troublesome age. Your child is really hyperactive at this age, and he always wants to try everything. I understand your concerns that as much as you would like to involve yourself in your child's play activities, there are times when you can't go with the flow. In this cases, it is best to try to introduce to your ...

As usual, I love @balanced mama's answer, but to add: Schedule special time once weekly with each of your children. Let them suggest several activities and you choose one from their list that you could agree to. Going to Starbucks, playing games, working on projects (a car, treehouse, etc) are examples. Even if its just an hour a week, your child knows ...