Jools and Jamie Oliver’s toddler is just like yours in this VERY cute way
Young River Oliver is growing up super speedily, bouncing from the baby phase to toddler days at what feels like breakneck speed.
Getting sorted
It was while we were obsessing over looking through Jools Oliver’s Instagram this morning we noticed just how toddler-ish the littlest Oliver has become. The designer mum’s most recent photo shows two-year-old River in his playroom, carefully lining up a large collection of toy cars.
A few images back we see a similarly-themed shot, with River proudly posing alongside a neatly arranged tower of toy stacking boxes.
The sweet and familiar images struck a chord with other parents immediately. They saw their own kids in these shots, confirming there’s a whole heap of tiny stacking, sorting, lining-up enthusiasts out there!
Read more about the Oliver family:
- A few of the best NEW picks from Jools Oliver’s Little Bird kids’ label
- Jools Oliver shares emotional photo of herself seconds after baby’s birth
- Dad-of-five Jamie Oliver reveals his surprising family food rules
“Traffic jams”
Excitedly responding in the comments section of Jools’ Instagram, they shared their own tales of mini organisers.
“I SO miss my boys setting up traffic jams on the floor!” one mum posted. “Don’t you feel bad clearing it up after they’ve spent hours lining them all up?”
“Pretty much how my boy plays,” another posted. “All his cars in a row.. or little lines of cars dotted around the house.”
“My four-year-old daughter does the same thing!” a mum posted, refuting other commenters’ assertion that this is a ‘boy thing’. “She loves to play with cars and things like that. She also often lines them up or places them in a circle around some other toy so that they are all facing that toy.”
Why do kids love sorting and stacking?
Some armchair opinionators and concerned commenters were keen to let Jools know that lining toys up like this can be an early marker for autism.
And while this behaviour is widely reported as a potential sign of autism, it’s also a very common behaviour in ‘neurotypical’ children.
Stacking, lining-up and arranging toys mark children’s first forays into making sense of their place in the world, object awareness – and even beginning maths skills.
This sort of play takes in pattern recognition, numeracy, colour recognition and problem-solving, to name but a few early learning processes.
If a child’s sorting urges consistently prevents more unstructured play or a parent is worried about their chid’s constant organisation, they should have a chat with their GP about their concerns.
We’re sure very experienced mum Jools is all over her own child’s care and development and does not need Instagram to diagnose her children, thank you very much. Sigh.
Now here is a photo of Jamie and River smooching. (Another thing people have opinions about!)
Footnote: Many people were keen to get their hands on the rainbow light in River’s playroom. It’s by a company called Sky Lantern Official and while their store seems to be sold out, it’s still available in other online stores – like this one. Or you can buy something a bit similar locally at Sunnylife.
