A seed of social interaction.

My regular readers will know I have 3 children. Firstborn is 7 years old, The King is 26 months old and Her Cuteness is 10 months old. Each child is besotted with the other, in their own way. Her Cuteness thinks her two big brothers are wonderful and loves to follow them around the house and join in their activities. Firstborn spends a lot of time playing with the younger ones. This gets a bit hectic as they love the rough and tumble games. I spend my time sitting on the edge of my chair waiting to lunge in (gracefully) and rescue whichever child is about to hit the floor. I can move quite quickly when necessary!

HRH quite likes Her Cuteness, but he finds her difficult at the same time. She rarely gives him a moments peace, as he sees it. She has a natural curiosity about her environment whereas HRH likes what he likes. She wants to join in with everything that goes on, he wants to play on his own terms.



Any toy he has, she wants. If he is eating, she wants scraps. If he sits down to watch Agent Oso (his new favourite and a nice change from Little Einsteins) she starts climbing on him. All she wants is to interact with him. All he wants is a bit of quiet time. When he hears her squawk he runs into the kitchen, hides under the table and peeps out at her as she crawls up the hall looking for him.

Sometimes he will try distract her with one of his less favoured toys and then run, but it rarely works; she is too clever for that. Of course, there is the very valid point that, while HRH is quite good at sharing, he also knows that Her Cuteness has not grasped that concept yet. He is perfectly happy to share toys etc with someone he knows will give them back.

What is a parent to do? Yes, The King needs his space, as does any child, but Her Cuteness just wants to play with him. She sits there, looking at him, smiling and babbling, waiting for him to notice her. She accepts any attention gratefully, even Hunky Dory's (green, crinkle cut).This always ends in 'No, HRH, do not feed the baby' as Her Cuteness coughs like a cat with a hairball while I try to fish out the offending crisp.


Over the last 10 days or so I have noticed a development. They have reached a truce and found one game they can play and enjoy together. One child stands at each end of the radiator and they take turns to hit it. The game begins when one child goes over to the radiator and the other notices. Each child has begun the game and each child has joined in, so it is not one child initiating the game all the time. They have developed their own set of rules and each child hits the radiator 2-3 times, no more, no less. As they do so they look at each other, wait for turns and smile at each other.

This may seem like a very small thing to somebody else, but to me it is huge and I love to see them playing it, even if I do have to cover my ears as they get more into the game. They are interacting and enjoying something together.

It's a good beginning, and even better that they happened upon it themselves. It is such a simple game. I have not started actively encouraging them to play the game, I don't want to force or push it. I will let it evolve for a while, I think, and just give verbal encouragement during the game. I can reinforce the concept of sharing and taking turns, for both of them. Our fabulous ABA Tutor will guide me through this so that I get it 'just right'.



So, if you call to my house bring painkillers and/or earmuffs. The coffee is good, but I can't guarantee it will be a quiet visit!