“Play books?” Jamie asked the other day as he approached me with a few options for his reading pleasure. I interpreted it as a sign that reading is fun for him.

I think my son will be an early reader. Not just because he enjoys being read to, but because he’s showing signs of being a big time DIYer. Most nights when we read him a book before bed, Mr. Independent needs to be holding a different book.

It’s important not to misconstrue this as an invitation for help, however. That’s the book he’s “reading” while you are reading to him. Removing it from his hands so you can read it to him results in a meltdown, because he wants to do it himself. This is why I think he’ll learn how to read sooner rather than later. Something tells me he’ll rest better once he can make sense of the words on the page himself.

Right now we read the book we are handed, and all is happy. And that, is how we “play books” in our house.

There’s also a running hug that he likes to give us, while making as much noise as possible on the approach. He likes to be chased around the upstairs, so that we tickle him when we find him. He also likes playing peek-a-boo and hide and seek. I cannot wait until he is old enough that we can teach him some actual kid games — such as Sorry, Life, or Candy Land. But he’s got some time before he understands strategy and rules. So chess and Risk are also out for the time being.

It’s not just the fun things that turn into games at our house. Meltdowns can be averted by turning the most unpleasurable experiences into games. Pouring water over Jamie’s head to wash his hair in the bathtub? Met with cries. Those cries are diffused shortly after by playing with a toy fishing pole.

Jamie wasn’t a particular fan of having lotion applied when he goes to bed. And then I started taking his limbs one-by-one and making as much noise as possible while I squeeze and tickle him—all the while applying the lotion. Now as we change his diaper he’s begging “Lotion? Lotion?” because it’s a game, and one of his favorite parts of the nighttime ritual.

Sometimes when he’s on the verge of a meltdown, my wife and I will sing the ABCs with him. That has morphed into him saying “Mommy, Daddy, ABCs!” He wants us both to sing the alphabet with him at this point.

If I leave this to him and his mother, Jamie will call me out on it. “Daddy sing!” The other morning I attempted to sing the ABCs to turn him around out of a crying fit. It worked. Then he turned around shouting “Cat no ABCs!” He ratted out the cat as she shuffled under the baby gate and down the stairs into our basement. When he quickly turns his attention to the cat, she bolts. You can say a lot of things about her, but she’s not dumb.

Sometimes he invents the games in the most unlikely of circumstances like the other day, when he started shouting “Blocks away! Blocks away!” instead of “Play blocks!” I will never argue with a 2-year-old who wants to clean up.

I love having this way to entice him into doing the things that he may not always want to do, though I’m sure it has it’s limits. I try to be cautious with this, because I want him to also enjoy playing games like I do. I love playing Risk, or chess. I thoroughly believe that these kinds of games can improve how you think. There are lessons easily transferable into real life.

I work in marketing so it’s easy to deconstruct what I do, turning it into a strategic game. There are certain things that need to be done in order to expect certain outcomes. Sometimes you have to think out of the box in order to achieve certain outcomes as well.

I hope Jamie can continue turning every day tasks into games. I hope he learns to view whatever he chooses to do in life this way. It adds a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment to everything.