Learning to be social is a part of growth development that takes time to show! My daughter is an extremely friendly child - the kind that starts up a conversation with anyone, invites them to her birthday party, and reminds them they will need to bring a present!
You know what that is like if you have social children too! You love the fact that they aren’t shy, and secretly worry that they will try to befriend the wrong person. You have to let them grow, however, and being able to interact socially will help them a lot when they start school.
Then there are the other children of the family, that are almost painfully self conscious. My littlest boy has decided he doesn’t like people. Little old ladies who try to chuck him under the chin are met with squinched up eyes and a mournful puckered mouth. If they persist, he pretends he is a baby coyote and goes “Oawoooooohh!” (Then everyone laughs, which just makes him madder!)
That’s OK! He will outgrow it, if I insist on taking him with me to the store and on errands, and not giving in to his shyness. My middle son was shy too, but he got over it. I took him to several mothers day out and bible school programs at churches the summer before he started kindergarten, and he quickly learned how to make friends.
As long as you expose your child to sociable situations, they can learn how to be more sociable. They all just do it in their own time! So don’t worry if one is outgoing and another shy. They will each grow at their own pace.
Sarah P.
Children need to learn how to make friends from early ages. My son is 10. He is an Introverted. He loves to spend time reading books and playing computer games. It is hard for him to make friends. But he has two very good friends. I always invite them over and schedule play dates. It helps him to maintain the friendship.
I am lucky - my sisters, cousin and I were all pregnant at the same time, so we all have children the same age.
We live near enough that our kids all have built in playmates!!