Lack of interest or attention span..?

[Holly02]

My 2.6 yr old ds goes to a playgroup with my mother once a week. The kids generally play and do their own thing for the first half of the morning, and then they do an activity (eg. some sort of craft), and finish up with a story and a song. Well - mum tells me that ds is fine playing with the other kids and that he sits down and has something to eat/drink at morning tea time, but has little interest in doing the activity and he is totally bored with the story at the end. Apparently while most of the other kids are sitting around listening, ds goes off and does his own thing. Do the other mums out there think that: a) it's a boy thing? b) it's an age thing? (not old enough yet) or c) a lack of attention? I am only wondering because according to my mum, most of the other kids seem to take part in what's going on. Thanks...

holly02- do you have any other concers about your ds? If no I'd say it was totally normal. If you have other concers then it could indicate something (it did for our ds1- but in combination with other problems like losing speech) but certainly not by itself. Don't want to panic you and I really think if everything else is fine then I'd say normal boy, too young thing....

holly02, about to go to bed but quick answer to your questions a) maybe it is a boy thing - my ds was certainly lacking in attention span at this age b) yes, age too and c) yes, due to a and b above. As jimjams says, if everything else is fine, then yes, sounds like a normal boy to me. Despaired of ds at this age in terms of joining in at playgroup/sitting still etc but looking back it was normal. Also, I helped at playgroup for ages and it was totally normal for both sexes at this age to find it hard to sit still/join in when expected etc. We forget how young they are sometimes I think!

Thanks jimjams - I know it's not a major problem but I've noticed a number of times with ds that he doesn't want to do what everyone else is doing, and I just wonder how he would go in a situation where the kids are required to adhere to some sort of structure. Maybe I'm worrying about nothing - hopefully he will change as he gets older.

www, it's an awful feeling when it's yours that's doing something different to the other children isn't it?! I'll just try to chill out a bit for now - there don't seem to be any other problems with ds so I'll just have to wait and see. Thanks.

hi Holly02
My nephew is exactly the same at around the same age. He tends to want to do his own thing a lot of the time...joining in group activities only for short times. i wouldn't worry - he's still very little really and I agree boys do tend to want to be on the go constantly...flitting from one activity to the next.

know what you mean holly02- I think that's why I've avoided any baby clubs with ds2- too many hideous memories from ds1.

More on the attention thing- my mum used to run a playgroup and there were always a few children who just couldn't sit down (and these were 3+). That's very normal.

It's probably just his personality. I take DS to a Mums and Tots group and there's always one or two of the two year olds running around during the singing at the end. Generally they tend to be boys and probably the same ones. DS (23 months), for instance, loves the singing and is the first one onto the mat most weeks. I think in most cases they will grow out of it. Also think that 2 is quite young for listening to a story in a group situation. Think even DS might vote with his feet if we had a story as well...

Holly02, my DS was just the same, I believe it is a boy thing too. At about 2 1/2 I tried taking him to a mother & toddler group and he did the very same, running around when they were singing songs, telling stories etc. I only went a couple of times as I felt he was being quite distruptive (he was the only one doing this). He is now four and goes to playgroup three times a week and they tell me he still isn't that interested in sitting down to do art/craft but he will now sit and listen to the story and sings the songs. We were told by a paediatrician who was seeing him due to worries we had about him that it was his personality, he is a "child with his own agenda". Although he is getting there now. I have heard that boys take longer to get used to sitting, listening, learning etc. I know it can be worrying but I'm sure he will change as he gets older.