I am SAHM so DS (age 2) doesn't go to nursery. He has cousins same age as him who DO go to nursery a couple days a week and plays with them a lot but seems to get in there way and is not used to them running about jumping on him and generally typical little boy behaviour. His cousins are 2 and 3. He just doesn't get to spend a lot of time in "free play" situations with other kids his age. He does go to music class and rhyme time but we are close with OH's family whose kids are all older (between 6 and 12) so he isn't really used to other 2 year olds.
Anyway, recently he has started to react really, really sensitively towards children his age. He doesn't really do "rough n tumble" play with them but they are always "play fighting" and stuff like that. When they start jumping on each other and carrying on, DS gets really upset and hides behind me clinging to me. He also said "I not like Shut UP" and kept referring to being told "shut up" so I guess he must have heard that too and was upset by it.
Is this a normal phase? DS is a little reserved and likes to watch a situation before joining in but when he does he is fine until somthing happens like a toy is grabbed off him and he goes silent just staring at the kid who has taken the toy. Other times he will try to take the toy back or just play with something else. I try not to be a "helicopter parent" by letting him get used to stuff like this but if things seem to be getting out of hand I will step in and try to distract him.
Sorry - I can't seem to keep my posts short. Also apologies for waffling but I don't really know exactly how to explain this. He just seems to be sensitive to things that didn't bother him until very recently.