We've been encouraging Nathan to invite friends over for playdates to improve his social connections. He finds the school yard intimidating, so we're working on building friendships on a one-on-one basis.
Yesterday, he had a playdate and I found myself sitting in the other room, pretending to read a book and supervise Alex, wondering if I should say something.
Nathan can be loud and he has difficulty sharing. He has a tendency to want to save the good and fun parts for himself (for example, when playing a video game with us, we have to remind him to let us have a turn at the uncovered treasure or reward. Or to let us solve problems on our own when he knows the solution). So when I could hear Nathan cheering but not his friend, I wondered if Nathan was doing the same.
But I stayed put, because it's also part of the playdate that I can't be jumping up to interfere every few minutes. Aside from the fact that it is embarassing for Nathan, it also highlights the problem in his friends' minds.
I did pull Nathan aside twice to remind him to let his friend make choices and not always push for what Nathan wanted to do. Because I want the playdate to be a success and the other kid to want to come back. But in the end, they sorted it out and seemed to have a good time.
No comments:
Post a Comment