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hooded bandit

Mich811's picture

Submitted by Mich811 on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 11:40am

Last night my dh and i took ss7 and sd5 out to dinner with my dh's uncle + family. the kids don't know the uncle at all because he lives far away. during dinner, ss7 ignored questions directed at him and zipped his sweatshirt hood up over his head so that he could see but not speak. he ate chips, then didn't touch his dinner (which he picked off the menu). when asked why he wasn't eating, he replied that he didn't "have a mouth" (presumably because his sweatshirt was zipped over it. instead of speaking, from time to time he made an annoying buzzing noise. DH spoke to him quickly, once, but then dropped it.

Is this NORMAL seven-year old behavior? My sd, who is only five, was totally fine and interacted with everyone.

It is so hard to make peace with my ss. I try, but his on-going annoying behavior drives me insane (as does DH's lack of rules).

Comments

DISbelief's picture

Submitted by DISbelief on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 11:42am

Little boys can be sort of strange sometimes. I don't think it is anything to worry about... but I can completely see how it would get on ones nerves!

DISbelief~

~You have to BE crazy to UNDERSTAND crazy!~ Wink

Mich811's picture

Submitted by Mich811 on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 11:45am

you know what is very funny about your comment: ss is obsessed with that movie. i wonder -- maybe your guess is correct!

Mich811's picture

Submitted by Mich811 on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 11:51am

yeah, he's generally a really creative boy. i like the idea of getting him to eat food from his planet, I'm going to try that!

Mich811's picture

Submitted by Mich811 on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 11:44am

ok, thanks disbelief. question, though -- what does one DO about it? should we ignore it? pull him aside and speak to him? give him warnings/take things away?

DISbelief's picture

Submitted by DISbelief on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 12:12pm

I would let the strange behavior "go"... but talk to him about eating his dinner. You don't want to crush his imagination, but he still has to eat. Maybe take some of Steperg's suggestions and allow his dinner to play in to whatever imaginary deal he has going on.

DISbelief~

~You have to BE crazy to UNDERSTAND crazy!~ Wink

Mich811's picture

Submitted by Mich811 on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 11:48am

the "talking with pants" part is kind of cute. i wonder what those conversations would be like???

stormabruin's picture

Submitted by stormabruin on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 11:54am

"...he replied that he didn't "have a mouth"
"Is this NORMAL seven-year old behavior?"

Don't we all wish??? Heehee!

My apologies for the stupid joke. Smile

Mich811's picture

Submitted by Mich811 on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 11:59am

hahaha! yes, exactly. if only i could conjure that sweatshirt trick up at will.

lifeisshort's picture

Submitted by lifeisshort on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 12:00pm

Man, that made me laugh. So funny! Talk with his pants... Great! That's creativity... I love it when kids use their imagination like that.

I know sometimes it can be annoying or seem inappropriate, but it's sooooo normal. The thing to do though, if it's inappropriate, is to IGNORE the behavior. Not, the kid, just the behavior. Act as though what he's doing doesn't phase you one bit. That's how you stop it. At least, that's what my parents did, and what we do. Works pretty well...

JMHO.

stormabruin's picture

Submitted by stormabruin on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 12:05pm

Or, the next time he asks you a question or wants to talk to you, you can pull your shirt up over your mouth and say you don't have a mouth. Let him feel the frustration.

It makes me laugh to think about it, but my mom told me that when I would throw tantrums at my granparents house as a child, my grandpa would throw himself onto the floor nex to me and roll around and scream and cry with me. She said it stopped me immediately and I would just give her this look like, "Mom, do you see this crazy man rolling around on the floor with me???"

lifeisshort's picture

Submitted by lifeisshort on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 12:25pm

Ha! That's awesome!
We do that too, when little one is throwing a tantrum - we all, me, DH and DS, start having a "tantrum" and it totally blows little one's mind! Little one starts to laugh and then we all laugh...
Good times.