Saturday, April 20, 2013
Week 3
This past week, I have had my nephew staying with me at the house. With him living in Eastern Washington I hardly get to see him, in which he hardly knows me. Which is sad to me. He is 4 years old, and is the SHYEST child i think i have ever met! My roommate has a 4 year old daughter, and is very outgoing. She will go up to a random stranger and start a conversation with them (if we let her). My nephew on the other hand, took an hour or so to even say one word to me, and even then he wasn't talking to me, he was singing, thinking no one was paying attention. I was just in shock, and have been, with how shy he is around people, let alone his own family. I took him to play at the Jump Zone one day, and there was NO way he would interact with any other kids there. He would go play, come back to me and ask "Did you see that? Wasn't it awesome?!" It has definitely been different having a young boy in the house, and seeing how he does things, when I have been so used to having a young girl in the house. Is that why they are so different? Because they are both of different genders? Maybe is has to do something with the mothers (who are the main caregivers)? The little girls mother is outgoing, the boy's mother is shy and keeps to herself. Maybe it has to do with the girl being in daycare, while the boy is staying home with his mother on a daily basis?
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I can definitely say that having a child stay at home with you all day is an aspect of them being so shy. With my son, for example, I stayed at home with him from birth until he was about 3, and he was super shy! I think it's because he is an only child - so he never really got any interaction with other children his own age unless he was at a park or something like that - and he doesn't have any cousins or close relatives his own age. Anyways, after he started in daycare when I went to school, he definitely began to open up. He is 5 now, and a lot more social. Not to say that him staying home with me was the only reason he was shy, but it definitely was a big factor in my sons case.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a perfect example of how a child's environment influences them! If your nephew's mother is introverted and your roomate's mother is extroverted, then it makes perfect sense that the children would reflect their mothers' personalities. I'm sure if he was able to be around you more, he would develop a sense of trust with you and you might be able to "draw him out of his shell", so to speak. I think it's great you're trying to interact with him, taking him to the Jump Zone, and exposing him to other kids!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is the same way when i was a stay at home mom. Because she had no interaction except when we went to the store or the park were the only times she interacted with other people or children. She would be the only one out there playing by herself and when a adult would come up to her she would shy away. However she has out grown that now and is a wonderful little girl and very outgoing. You are doing a great job of trying to get him out there and interacting with other children.
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