My little social retard...

Dylan's parent teacher conference a few weeks ago went great. His teacher said that he is doing very well all-round. He is average in some areas of his education and development, and VERY advanced in others. But, as always, their one area of concern was his social development.

Basically, my son prefers the company of his teachers to the company of the other children at school. He doesn't really have any close friends and, as I understand it, doesn't really play with anybody in his class.

Dylan loves going to school. He's not unhappy there, and I'm wondering if I should just leave well enough alone. Does he need an intervention?

Of course, worrying about our son has raised the question of my own childhood. Mostly, did my mom have these same worries about me? Because seriously, as soon as I could read I spent about 90% of my waking hours with my nose buried in a book. Laura Ingalls Wilder was my best friend in first, second and third grade. The Sweet Valley twins were my best mates until I was about 13. Then it was Stephen King and pretty much any trashy romance novel I could get my hands on. My tastes grew more sophisticated in college, when I developed a love of Margaret Atwood. Then, at the tender age of 20, Ernest Hemingway and I developed a wonderful relationship that was destined to last a lifetime.

Dylan having these issues at school has made me realize that he probably gets it from me. My poor mother must have had these same worries. All of a sudden, I am re-thinking all the play dates and friends that I had as a child and pre-teen. Were they all a desperate attempt to get me to socialize with kids my own age? Did my mother force my two older sisters to play with me in a (vain) attempt to get my nose out of a book and my backside into the yard to play?

Of course, once I found my fellow outcasts at about 15 I became more social. Sadly, not with people my parents approved of. But that's a WHOLE different blog post, and it was actually part of the appeal of my new "friends."

I am worried about Dylan, but I guess we'll just keep encouraging him to play with other kids and see where this heads. In the mean time, I will just enjoy knowing that my son is every bit as intelligent as I always suspected. Seriously bright boy!

And Sheldon seems to do ok.