My son has a bunch of friends but none of them seem to be super close where he wants them to come do sleep overs or anything. He has his sports friends which he gets along with them all great during practice and games, his school friends who he plays with at recess and a few neighborhood friends to pass the time outside. He had one of his buddies who they would do playdates quite often but that fizzled down and this other boy is having playdates with other kids. Now this doesnt really seem to phase my son but I'm kinda torn as what to expect? He is my first and I grew up in a house full of girls and I just remember having a best friend who i wanted to play with nonstop. (granted the best friend changed quite often)
From what you said, his social life sounds totally normal. He's only 7, many kids that age don't really know who they even enjoy being with. That will come with time. Don't stress out about it.
From what I can figure, little boys don't bond with others the way little girls do. Females need the social connections, that's why being "excluded" from a group can be such a deviating tactic in bullying.
Try to think of the tribal communities, males go out, hunt and come back, they rarely sit and chat. Too much talking scares food away. In the villages the females sit and chat and do their chores, helping each other.
My brother never seemed interested in "over night" play dates. Just wasn't his thing. Is your son asking to invite someone over? If not then no big. He knows who he gets along with best and he'll invite ro not invite as he see the need.
His friendships sound exactly like my sons' friendships. I have 2 boys, 8 and 14. Both of them were that way at 7, and my 8 year old still is. My 14 year old now has a group of 4 or 5 friends that he is closer to, but it still isn't like I was/am with friends. I think boys are just different. I know my husband is different with his friends. He doesn't seem as close to his friends as I am to mine, but I know they care about each other.
sounds normal based on today's standards....
Best friends come easier when the child is a close neighbor. Anything else, today, is at the parent's transportation....which decreases the social dynamics. A definite loss for this generation. :(
Boys dont seem to do the sleepover thing like girls do.
My son's best friend was our neighbor girl so they (both my boys) would both go spend the night at her house occasionally because she was a GIRL and wanted a sleep over I guess. The other mom and I always thought it was funny. They were all like 7 or 8 at that time. It stopped when my sons realized spending the night at a girls house wasnt cool, via peer pressure I suspect.
They didnt starrt staying all night at guy friend houses until they were like 11 and 12, mostly for video game marathon parties.
He's fine.
He's 7... so 1st or 2nd grade?
Friends, changes all the time.
Girl or boy.
Your son is not phased by it. So that is good.
He is not unusual.
At all.
Eh...my nine year old has a different gang every day/week.
He has his "anchormen" but knowing lots of kids from lots of activities is a GOOD thing!
Totally normal. He's only 7, a lot of kids don't start sleepovers until 9 or 10, and play dates kind of come and go, as friends change and as families' schedules allow it. I say as long as he is happy, don't worry about it!
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Most 7 or even 8 years old children don't have best friends. They devolope closer friends more in fourth grade I think. It kind of depends on the kids too. If they live really close than they're will play more.
My oldest is almost 7. His close friends (sleepovers, non stop playdates, etc) are all family friends. The mothers are close and spend a lot of time together, so the children see each other frequently. If I didn't have close mom friends, I don't think he'd have anyone to do sleepovers with or to have the non stop playdates with.
Maybe it's a boy thing. Because I remember having those really close best friends at age 5/6.
My girls are 12 and 15 and only the older one likes sleep overs. The younger one prefers to play and then have quiet time in her own bedroom. I think age 7 is quite young to do sleep overs, even for girls. My 15 year old has about 7 or 8 close girl friends that all do stuff as a group or in small bunches. My 12 year old has about 4 or 5 close friends that she prefers to see individually, except for birthday parties. But at age 7 it was pretty much all up to mom to arrange play dates since we live in a rural town. When I was growing up you just went outside and you would play with whoever was outside too, boy or girl. Where we live there is hardly ever anyone outside.
