Mum and Son's First Day of Playcentre

This year I decided that I will take my son to playcentre. I thought at the time by taking him to playcentre, it would help him to learn to pronounce words.....REAL words that is not baby gobbity goop, as well as developing social skills and fine tune his motor skills.

Lately, my son has developed a strong "love" for his Nan. Whenever she is around, he will stick by her side until we either pry him off her when she leaves OR when she secretly sneaks out the door when he is not looking.

Nan enjoyed the added attention from her grandson, however it did not seem to fade.....not even a little! This started to become an issue, as my son turned into a "paua" (Abalone) - a shellfish that sucks to a rock and never lets go until someone comes along to pry it off. The way he was behaving with his nan, became exhausting for her, although she would not say so. I could see her getting tired from him being so clingy.

So that made me more determined to take him to playcentre in the hope that mingling with the other children MIGHT prevent him being clingy to his nan.

Off to playcentre we went. As we hopped out of the car he seemed to light up as he noticed the other children playing in the playground. "This is great!" I thought, he looked excited and children are usually magnets to other children, so this must be what he needs- to mingle with HIS peers.

We were welcomed with many smiles and eager mum's wanting to meet the new arrivals. After a tour of the facility and going through the safety rules and regulations, I was finally able to let my son explore the playcentre playground with the other children at play. All was going well as we started in the sandpit..............but we never left the sandpit. He stayed there staring  at everyone.
At one time, another child approached him and he turned and gave that child a growl and the "evil eye", I was SO shocked as I never knew he could even make that face!

After much encouragement, I was able to get him to the food table to have morning tea but again that was it.....he was not going to budge any further than that.
Leaving playcentre was easy, he was happy to wave to all when we left to come home (the most sociable action he had done all morning).

Travelling home I thought that today must have been a bit of a culture shock for him, as new experiences usually are, so I never once thought that going to playcentre might've been hard on him! For a child they usually fit into their surroundings really well and the adult sometimes struggles, but not so this time.

I am still hoping that it may help him in some area's in development and YES we will be heading back to playcentre again next week, but we will take it easy......with no hidden agenda from mum next time.

*For more information on Playcentre click here: http://www.playcentre.org.nz/