What do you do if your child wants you to play with him but you're just too tired?

Childproof room
We have a play room. This room is basically empty except for some play mats and toys. We have cushions and we make ourselves comfortable on the play mat and sometimes we fall asleep there. We lock the door after going inside with our son. The room is child-proof in a way. And he can just play and we can fall asleep. I think for now it works. We tried telling him mummy is tired but he comes and bugs us a bit. Because the room is child-proof and we lock the room, we don't worry that he'll run out. - Chong See Ming, mother of a 20-month-old boy

Early bedtime helps
That would be like every day. You just have to put on your game face and go. That's why I think an early bedtime is necessary. It usually hits me by 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon. It gets pretty exhausting but no matter how tired I am I know it's ending soon because at 7 o'clock it's lights out. I know it and they know it. For me, it's a good mental barrier because no matter how tired you are you can deal with it as long as you know closure is coming. – Melissa Lozano, mother of four children from 14 months to 5 ½ years

Ask them to watch TV
Now, this is something that occurs almost every weekday as both my hubby and I work a five-day week and we are indeed zonked out at the end of each day. Furthermore, being parents who are 40-something to a 3 1/2-year-old toddler, how do we cope? The best that we can, I would think. Calista loves storytelling and without fail I will be the target to tell her a story. So, when I am completely zonked out, that's when she comes and asks, “Mommy can you tell me a story?” I then ask which one and it will always be Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. Mind you, it gets to you when you have to do this almost every night. So when she comes to me at that precise moment when I am just too tired I will ask her to go sit down and watch some TV or play with her toys and promise to read to her her bedtime story before we hit the sack. Sometimes I forget but most times I deliver as toddlers never forget; they will hound you until you give in. One can never be too tired to play with your child. After all, these moments are rare and before you know it they do not want to play with you anymore as they have their own agendas. So, I treasure these so-called zonked-out moments with my little girl and hope that I make some sense when reading or relating a story just before I sleep. - Elma Juliet Chan, mother of two aged nine months and three years plus