I mean, the thing about all this talk about social IQ is...lordy, what do you think we've been trying to work on for YEARS with my oldest? Every day? It's not like we're not trying. This is not easy for all children.
I'm actually kind of surprised, polarbear, that you didn't witness any media-influenced play during that playground time. Perhaps this is regional or socioeconomic. A regular complaint of my DS's is that most of the boys in his class want to play superheroes every day. He really dislikes superheroes...always has. It's a dominant narrative, though. (The other thing they play is football, which he doesn't like either because it's too rough.) He has a BFF who is not into this stuff and sometimes he can get them to do other things, but it's a drag for him. Now, we have another group of nonschool friends, much less media-influenced, where the play is all knights, dragons, and swords, or non-media general outdoor play, and he prefers this.
