We're Introverts and our son might be too

Jean-Louis and I are definitely Introverts. We have a history of being alone with just a few friends or none at all. The big difference between the two of us is that I want to be more social and I want to hang out with existing friends and I want to meet more friendly people. Jean-Louis is convinced he is happier alone. We actually call ourselves anti-social but we're "goodie goodies" so it's not quite accurate. We may not have many friends or go to many social outings but we would certainly not harm anyone, which is sort of the case with anti-social behavior.

Thanks to this parenting blog, I recently received two invitations to take part in special events in Vancouver. One was an invitation from the Premier, Christy Clark, to join in a round table discussion about issues important to families on October 23rd. This would be held at her office downtown during a day where Tristan would be at daycare. I declined on the invitation for various reasons but I did offer to give my input on their blog or article, if they choose to write about that meeting. The second invitation I received was for the Dailey Method Vancouver and InspireHealth event on October 18th. The event would feature tips on nutrition, exercise and stress reduction as well as advice on cancer prevention and self-empowerment. Sounds interesting right? But it's a week night and it's all the way by UBC, which is too far for me to go at night. It's a $30 event with food included and I was invited to go for free but once again, I declined.

So why did I decline on both great events? Part of it I think is that I'm an Introvert. The more time I spend alone or with just the family (Jean-Louis and Tristan), the more socially awkward I feel around other people and in social gatherings. Unless it's very easy and tempting for me to go, I would probably decline. The only reason I went to the Vancouver Mom's blogging event was that I was able to go with both Jean-Louis and Tristan. I would have not gone alone. I'm such an Introvert that I even added "meet another virtual friend in person" on my new year's resolutions! Funny, eh?

Last night during dinner, we asked Tristan who he played with at daycare besides his best friend. Tristan has an upcoming birthday next month and I want to invite all his friends at daycare. I know there are people he likes and some that he doesn't so I wanted to find out who I could add to the invite list. He told us that he only plays with his best friend. I kind of knew about this already. When his best friend is not at daycare, he apparently plays on his own. He used to play well with just about everyone but now that he is getting a bit older, he is starting to show signs of being an Introvert, just like his parents. Yikes :S Obviously, we want him to be more social than us and we figured going to daycare would help him. It probably has helped him but part of it might be genetics as well. How are we suppose to encourage him to be more social when we don't do it ourselves? I do try to plan events every so often but it's hard when you don't have close friends and everyone is busy. The Halloween party I tried to plan fell through the cracks. The only plans we can rely on are the ones involving the three of us. Lol. That doesn't help though, does it?