Do you kids have to be on you/with you/ near you ALL the time??

[Bathsheba]

Mine have all gone through this. I have a theory that it's worse the more stressed out i am. You would think that a child that you have just yelled at to PLEASE GET OFF ME FOR A FEW MINUTES!!! would cower away and want to leave mummy alone. They don't. They do the opposite.

From what i have read it's a primitive survival instinct to stay close to mumma if mumma is agitated. Ok so picture Mumma CaveWoman out gathering nuts and berries in the forest... Mumma Cavewoman senses danger and is agitated. No words need to be spoken... CaveChild knows from past experience that danger usually follows soon after Mumma is agitated. So they learn to stay close. If Mumma is relaxed, calm and content then the Cavekids know from past experience that all is well and they should be able to roam freely and explore. This is the law of nature.... humans are animals so why wouldn't it follow that our kids have the same survival instincts as other animals? Like said, just my theory.

A few years ago my chronic thyroid condition was bad... it affected my moods and i felt the heat sooo bad... the last thing i wanted was a child clinging onto me all the time... my youngest, i think, responded to my agitation by being clingy. He is getting better though now that i am am more relaxed and feeling the cold! I wouldn't mind a child to get some extra warmth from these days! LOL

I could be totally wrong... this just outlines my sitch and my theory... i have lots of theories though LOL

Good luck! Maybe act like everything is ok in your forest (even though you might still feel a bit stressed about other stuff) and they might feel ok about scampering off to play

ETA: I read your post and i hear you that they also seem to stop what they are doing when they are playing and everything is ok... until you leave the room. Have you tried leaving for a very short stint then returning? Doing it for increasingly long periods a bit like controlled crying (hesitant to give that as an example because i don't do it personally)... but YKWIM? just nip out for a sec... return... nip out for two secs... return etc... until they couldn't be bothered following and trust that you'll return?