mammax3 Posted June 29, 2007 Posted June 29, 2007 My 4yo was playing with some older neighbourhood kids. I saw how they didn't want to play him but he couldn't see it. It nearly broke my heart to see him chasing them and hopping around them, trying to entice them to play with him. He began to get inappropriate - hitting, throwing things over the fence - hats etc - so they went inside and left him confused on their front door step. For a large part, they just ignored him and let him play around them, but not actually with them. How do I handle this? Is this a normal learning process on how to be with peers? I tried to tell 4yo that they won't want to play if he's hitting etc, and that sometimes bigger kids want to play bigger kid games, he thought they were all playing. I can't shield him, I know, but it's hard. Do I just need to get over this?
Storyrider Posted June 29, 2007 Posted June 29, 2007 Just focus on finding him some playdates with kids his own age. Does he go to preschool or are you in any playgroups? When he has trouble with older kids, remind him that he'll be seeing friend X tomorrow. Offer to play a game with him or let him help you with the laundry or cooking dinner. Just basically distract him, at this age, rather than making it into a huge deal. Yes, this is part of life, and you don't have any control over it.
Author mammax3 Posted July 1, 2007 Author Posted July 1, 2007 Ugh. There are more and more moments like that, I'm beginning to see! Poor kids. I thought so. He seems to hear me when i tell him about big boy play-styles, but he's just too young to understand. Thanks. I'll try to toughen up! LoL
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