Being a Social Toddler

On Friday's Georgia is in day care, I feel she can learn a lot from going, from the other kids & the ladies who work there. It also means she is doing something different at least once a week because to be honest, since having two little ones we don't go out much anymore! 

Last Friday afternoon I pulled into the day care car park to pick Georgia up and saw her in the sand pit playing on her own while all the kids were playing with each other. My heart broke for her, one of the main reasons I wanted her to go to day care was to play with other children and it wasn't happening. So when I went in there I asked the main career how Georgia was going socially and if she is interacting well with the other kids. And she said she doesn't want to play with the other kids at all, that she would much prefer to sit with the ladies who work there instead. She said they have been working on it with her & she will now sit and watch the other kids play but that is all she will do. 

I. Was. Devastated! I instantly got the mum guilt's and thought it was all my fault, since having Lauren we barely go out and she doesn't get the socialising she needs to learn how to interact with others. I really felt like I was failing as a parent for her and that I was a bad mum. 

Another reason I was so upset by this was I was a shy kid, I didn't have the confidence to make friendships with others, I would wait for them to come to me. I struggled with this all of my school life and even maybe a little now. It is something I am so worried about for my girls, I want them to be confident and outgoing. And I thought getting Georgia into day care, that this might start her off right in not being a shy little thing. 

Mark got home and knew something was wrong and as soon as we had sorted the girls & they were both in bed I just broke down crying. Mark is the kind of guy who likes to fix things so he instantly started doing research to see if this is normal behaviour for a 20 month old and it is! 

Most children don't do interactive play until 3 years old or older. Usually from about 24 months they will sit next to each other and play independently or watch each other and copy what the others are doing but even still won't play together, this is called parallel play. I was so relieved that this is totally normal behaviour.

The mum guilt is still there about not taking her out much, so I'm going to get out of my comfort zone of staying home and try get her out and about more! Having two kids sure does change the dynamics of getting out! I don't know how mums do it with more then 2! 

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