Jahan has suddenly become Daddy's Little Boy. For the past couple of weeks, he has been visibly upset when Duncan has left for work. He stands at the front door, crying and waving goodbye for several minutes after Duncan has driven away ("Bah-byee Da-deee!"). Jahan also appears very excited to see Duncan at the end of the day - less so than he is to see me when I return from work.
It is not unusual for a child to be less interested in spending time with the parent he sees most often. A case of familiarity breeding contempt, perhaps. However, Jahan has never previously shown a preference for either of us, and has only recently decided that he wants to be around his father much more than he does me - a rather sudden development!
I'm not upset by this - just a little intrigued. I think it is kind of nice for a boy to be attached to his dad. I just didn't think he would be able to discern the parental roles so early! What is it in particular about his father to which Jahan relates already? Is this simply a phase (much like his spoon fetish) which will pass when he discovers a new toy or companion? I wonder.
Posted by Dayan at September 9, 2004 09:09 AMJeyanth has very similar behaviour patterns with me, his mother. So, with 2 data points, I put forward the hypothesis that this is behaviour directed at the 'parent-who-is-least-around', caused by heightened levels of "will they come back when they go away" angst that these kids have about both parents at this age, triggered by the more frequent and longer absences of the full-time working parent.
Jeyanth has occasionally taken this to the extreme of refusing to be passed from me to Chris. Our book says that its common for kids in their 2nd year to have a favoured parent, and that this will often swap in the third year. So it might just be random anyway.
Posted by: Sureka at September 10, 2004 12:45 PM