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This is a tough one for a parent, I’m sorry to hear it. The pandemic robbed a lot of younger kids of their ability to learn how to speak and act. They rely on in person lip moving and playful interactions to learn and build confidence in their social skills. Push for more play dates with their closest friends. That will help build confidence in their social interactions.
Thank you, yes we cut off all interactions for over two years and it’s now not easy to get back to the pre-pandemic state.
Do you think it's skills or lack of interest? I think sometimes we think with an adult mind where we act based on "social norms".
Is your kid just bored and not interested to talk or just wants to read/play games/just watch? Or maybe is anxious?
Since he is talkative with close friends maybe that's more his temperament and social style?
But otherwise, I do a lot of pretend play and purposefully (playfully) throw in scenarios for son. So he gets to see both sides of the picture.
For our pretend kitchen, I use stuffed bear and bear wants ice cream now! Doesn't want to wait. Etc. Son gets to be the "mature grownup" and surprisingly will mimic the parents/adults to calm down bear, ask him to wait a bit etc. It's dynamic and not "set up" like ok you be daddy and ill be you. It just comes.
I think kids learn from their environment. What they see. And mostly that's parents, siblings at home. Teachers and classmates at school.
Thank you, that's a lot of thought-provoking questions, you seem like a great parent. Yeah, looks like that's his social style and he doesn't want to change it for the social norms.
I'd try and probe as below, without directly pushing him to be more social then. The pretend play sounds like a great idea too, we never did it.
Thanks for the advice again, most appreciated.