Hi,
I'm interested in people's experiences with independent toddlers. Our son is 3.5 and has some developmental delays as a result of hearing problems for a year or two when he was younger. In many ways he is working at the level at the level of a 2 year old. One issue that has arisen is that he prefers to play by himself. In fact he is useless at play interactions! For example he'll be happily banging his drum, I'll come along and have a go suggesting we take it in turns, and he'll either walk off or decide he wants cuddles instead. Rolling the ball to each other is another one. He will sometimes do it but generally loses interested very quickly and wanders off to do something else. It's the same at nursery with other children although he is getting a little better and now often sits and takes part in group activities.
He loves company so it's not that he doesn't want us there. But he seems perfectly happy doing his own thing and isn't bothered about involving others. In fact often if I decide to leave him at it he will cry and want me to come back and sit with him while he plays. But if I try to join in the play in any way he will either decide that climbing onto my back is more fun or go and start playing with something else.
Please no comments involving "red flags", "have you seen a paediatrician" etc. That isn't the point of this post. I would be interested to hear peoples stories of similar ND children. My feeling is that he was already pretty independent. I am too. But that the hearing issues at a key part of his development have caused him to learn to get on with things by himself a bit too much for my liking.