What I Learned on Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of Play

Anyone who watches Noggin religiously like we do should about Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of Play. In honor of this day, both Nickelodeon and Noggin went off the air today from 12:00-3:00 to get kids out to play.

We got home from grocery shopping at 2:00, and TJ turned the TV on. He was unhappy that Noggin only showed a goldfish and a chalkboard that said, “Recess.” I explained that, once I finished putting the groceries away, we could go upstairs and play in his room. He liked that idea.

So we went upstairs to play in TJ’s room. He took out a stuffed chick (he calls it a duck) and decided we should play catch with it. We tossed the chick around for a while, with some gratuitous diving and falling to make spectacular catches. We read a lot of books. I think we might have gotten through seven different books – some more than once.

Then he told me he was going away because he didn’t want to play with me anymore. He went out in the hallway and closed the door.

I pretended to cry. He did really hurt my feelings, so it wasn’t too much of a stretch.

“Mommy, what’s wrong?”

He opened the door and came back in. I told him I was sad, and I asked him for a hug.

“No thank you,” he said. “I have to go work on some projects.”

And he closed the door on me again.

We’ve been having some issues where he says some very hurtful things to me. We go to lunch with the Grandmas before we go grocery shopping, and he’s been asking to go in Grandma Debbie’s van to go to the store from the restaurant – and then telling me to go away in my car. Things like that. So it was time to confront this head on.

It took a bit of coaxing to get TJ to come back in and talk to me. He did a lot of dodging and changing the subject, but I got to the heart of the matter.

“Mommy, I want to make you sad.”

With a few questions on my part, I got him to admit that me going to work makes him sad. (Hence him not wanting to hug me because he had to “work on projects.”) And because I make him sad when I have to work, he says things to make me sad.

Talk about breaking my heart.

I’d suspected it for a while, but now I have confirmation. Going back to work broke my little boy’s heart. He told me he likes going to Grandma Kitty’s house. He likes going to school. But it still makes him sad that I’m not home with him anymore.

But when I play with him in his room, it makes him happy. So I’m just going to have to make sure I make more time to do that with him, even after a long, tiring day at the office.

We played some more catch. We read some more books. When Tom came home, TJ decided it would be fun to play a game of tag with both Mommy and Daddy.

We’re back downstairs now. TJ turned the TV on and discovered that Noggin was back on. (I’d managed to keep him away from the TV for an extra hour after it came back, though.) He’s sitting with Daddy watching Little Bear. I’m still a little sad after hearing his confession. But I’ll do my best to make it up to him. I will.

Christina Gleason (976 Posts)

That’s me: Christina Gleason. I’m a writer, editor, and disability advocate. I'm a multiply disabled autistic lady doing my best in this world built for abled people. I’m a geek for grammar, fantasy, and casual gaming. I hate vegetables. I cannot reliably speak, so I’ll happily conduct business over email or messaging instead.