Obsession was the story of DS7's young life. His was anything with wheels. Still is, to some extent. He used to memorize the Consumer Report car edition while he potty trained, and I always said that if we were hit by a hit-and-run driver, DS would ID the car for me, since he could tell you the make and model of anything on the road. Then for a while it was construction equipment. And then he knew all about NASCAR, even though no one in the family liked NASCAR at all. For the past year or so, he's advanced to Transfomers, even though not all of them have wheels. Progress!
Even before the cars, he obsessed over these letter and number puzzles we have. Between 12-16 months or so, he would spend probably 8 hours a day with the puzzles, and I credit them with his learning to read so early. He didn't want to do anything else but those puzzles, though BELIEVE ME, I tried to persuade him! We callhim our laser because he was just hyperfocused on his interests from the very beginning.
This is not unusual for an HG+ child.
To ease your mind a little, now at 7yo, DS is a friendly, well-adjusted, kind boy who plays well with others and makes friends with ease.
The first question I would have for you is what's your son's personality like? Is he an introvert by nature, happy to immerse himself alone in his obsession for hours, recharged by time alone? Or is he an extrovert, who needs the social time to be recharged, and you think the obsession is a sign that he's unhappy?
If the former, then I wouldn't worry too much. There's nothing wrong with being an introvert. Introverts are not by definition anti-social. They just thrive on time alone. Nothing wrong with that!
And as for his obsession, that's not really a big deal. He'll outgrow it if you don't stand between him and his obsession. Set some rules about when and where he can exercise his obsession so that the taking away doesn't seem random to him: no numbers at bedtime, for example. But beyond that, let him have it. It's not hurting him, and standing between a child and an obsession is a great way to cement a power struggle. Why? You won't win, since he is going to care about what he cares about, and ultimately it's a dumb thing to pick a fight over. Pick your battles!
If, however, you think he's an extrovert and he's burying himself in the numbers because he's unhappy, then that's cause for concern. I'm guessing this is not so.
Not everyone is wildly social. Especially at age 2! Some people like to be by themselves a lot. The big difference is between no friends and 1 friend. Try to see to it that he finds at least one friend with whom he shares some interests and playtime in the next year or so. Playing outside could help with this, since there are no numbers to obsess about outside.
But overall, I think you're going to be fighting a losing battle if you try to curb his interest. And really, what's the harm? Why is his love of numbers any less worthy of respect than my love of the Norse or some other adult's love of crocheting or golf or poetry? Why try to "fix" it? Leave it alone, set some reasonable limits and follow them consistently, and let him be who he is. Eventually he'll get over it and move on to a new obsession...usually right after you spent a fortune on Christmas gifts related to the old obsession!
