Hi,
We're semi- FIRE'd now. We've moved from our tiny apartment in a megacity to a house in a village by the sea. In the past, our evening routine was to take our 3 year old to the park next door, where he would happily play in the mud, ride his balance bike and occasionally play with a few of the kids in the park (usually all older than him), while I sat on a bench with a book, or talked to other parents.
We thought our new place with a garden would be perfect for him-with the wide open spaces, dog, cat, spiders, butterflies etc. Instead, he's always running off into the neighbours' house (we share the garden with them) to watch tv, eat candy and every half an hour there's tantrums and screaming when they tease him. The youngest kid there is 8, so I imagine they're tired of having him underfoot.
We got him a football, badminton racquet and attempt to play with him, but he doesn't want to play with us, runs off into their house.
The husband picks him up from school and the mums there don't talk to him, so he hasn't had playdates from school friends yet. Also, our lil chap is rather loud and grabby, so he's probably made friends in school but the other parents seem to be a little wary. And in the neighbourhood, all the kids I've met are much older. There aren't any kiddie parks - I'm not sure what kids his age do in the evenings here.
I've started taking him to a pool twice a week and we go to the beach often. I've also found out about football (soccer!) and other classes for him, but in the past he really hasn't enjoyed organised activities. He's very social and I suspect he wants the company of other little people- just no idea how to provide it to him.
Any suggestions?