Of course, hopefully, social development and chronological age will continue until such time as the child can come and go to his friend's house as he chooses, without the wearisome planning. Spontaneity, after all, is a great part of the pure joy of children's play. The child thought he was making th journey alone and grew in self-confidence while the mother could be sure he had reached his destination safely. It is now time to enlarge the child's group, and the experience repeats itself, with mother structuring initial group contacts and standing alert to terminate them if the play session begins to deteriorate. But this, too, can be circumvented if the parent is creative and innovative.
Nothing is quite so effective as a quick and attractive change of subject.
Inappropriate Language Youngsters sometimes experiment and use language inappropriately, including highly unacceptable profanity, the meaning of which they probably don't know. Letting it go until a later time means that the correction will lose its punch and impact. The same principal applies as above. Yes, there will be times when your child had to take defensive action-and you can deal with such situations by curtailing interaction with a specific youngster who may indeed be taking advantage of your child's vulnerability. All of the social interaction you have provided for your child will spill over into the school situation, and you can be sure that teachers will be very grateful.