We have very shy children.
Hubby is not shy at all. He is very outgoing and social – trust me this man can make friends anywhere.
Growing up I was very shy, but I am not really anymore, every once in a while I feel intimidated, a little afraid of what people will think of me, but usually I have no problem talking to people, joining a large group of people where I know almost no one.
So when we realized not one but both kids were shy, we were a little shocked.
Going to someone’s house party has never been fun. Having my family over for Christmas was not fun for Little Boy who woke up from his afternoon nap to discover a house full of people – and none of them looked like Santa.
So this past weekend Hubby’s company hosted a Surf & Turf Family BBQ. We tried to get our babysitter to stay with the kids, but she was busy, so we reluctantly brought them along.
We were pretty sure it would be an evening where we spent more time with the kids than socializing with the other adults.
It turns out, they must be growing up – we had a fantastic night.
They got to say hi to all the lobster, they played with other kids, they played by themselves.
We were beyond proud of them – we did not leave until 9:45 – almost 2 hours past their bedtime – and they were still doing great!
There is hope for us still – the glue that they have been using to attach themselves to our legs jsut might be weakening.
Good insights. I always bring up research done by Jerome Kagan whenever someone claims, "Shyness is learned, so you can unlearn it." one poster even claimed "Shyness is learned by the age of two." Such people rarely back up this statement by explaining how something like shyness could be learned by the age of two. Just because bashfulness is partly genetic, however, that doesn't mean we are powerless to change, just that we should not waste our time worrying over the past or blaming our parents.
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