Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school That drowning feeling...

When the boy was that age I was fascinated by how the older kids taught him social skills and playground technique. These were strangers kids, not playdates. We have used the playground at the mall and there's a Restaraunt called taco palenque that looks like fast food but has fresh grilled food and homade beans mmm... Sorry, I digress.
Sometimes we'll visit the Mic Donalds for a wild berry "foofy" and. McCafe. I'm lovin' it! The fast food playground is awesome for kiddy interaction because the older ones lift the littles up one more flight on their way through. The other day I had to ask what they were playing because mine had another boy in a corner hitting him with straws and the other had his arms up blocking the blows but not walking away. Turns out that's how you play "swords". You never know who you'll meet on the playground. I'm loosing my good mommy badge by saying this, but we don't schedule playdates. It's whoever's at the playground when we get there. And it's very mixed-age and changes every visit.
That's what my boy's begging for most often when he says "play".

I was just concerned that you might only be after thoughts relating to brain development :-) I'm very sorry, but my memory is that the two-year molars were indeed worse than everything that had gone before. (And teething took ages, and it was often quite hard to tell whether that was the problem or not, since by the time the tooth was actually palpable it seemed the worst was over. I was known to give him ibuprofen on suspicion of teeth, and with 20/20 hindsight I actually wish I'd done that more rather than less.) At least after them you get a break, and the next time teeth are an issue he'll be able to say so clearly!

DS used to like being given dictionary-style definitions for words, even words he clearly already knew. (I remember him saying, for example, "What is a bus?" when we'd just got off one, at about this age.) Might be worth trying that: "To play means... For example..."

He should definitely come and hang out with my ornery two year old. Oy!!

Part of our problem is his 'late-talking'. If only I could figure out what he wants, life would be so much easier. I feel for you!!

The day he got the word "I" (after having "eye" for a while was.... Well, I got poked in the eye a LOT. I've laarned a lot about English from him lately. I really had no idea about the true range of the word "open" for example.

We played hockey for a while today, by an accident involving a trip to a second-hand shop. It's possible he meant he wanted to play a SPORT. He clearly wanted Wayne Gretsky's job, but he was actually interested in the rules, and did a surprisingly good job of following them. (it was all little kids, one even smaller than him, so it wasn't exactly NHL rules - but he was doing little face-offs and stuff. Tres cute) Now if only we can convince him of the "two hands on the stick" part, we might have a new activity on our hands

-Mich
(This on the heals of a big to-do over head injuries amongst young hockey players. I had just decided the one thing I NEVER wanted my kids to play was hockey. Sigh. It's a good thing he's cute.)

Tell me about it.

They have big thoughts but no ways to articulate them.

I hear you! My husband and I have decided that we would rather he plays the flute than hockey (and no offence intended to anyone who plays the flute!). I would rather have him beat up at school than smashed into the boards until his brain turns to mush. I know that sounds very un-Canadian of me.