Wandering off with random objects. Normal for an 8yo?

[ContessaferJones]

The DC always wandered off with random things as toddlers, mostly at our behest as a distraction tool (think "Here is a spoon. Yes, a fabulous spoon. Now go away please and let Mummy do the washing up" sort of thing). However, while DS1 (9yo) has stopped doing it, DS2 (8yo) is terrible for picking up anything that strikes his fancy and wandering off with it. Screwdrivers, tweezers, nails etc - things he knows and has been firmly told not to touch. Today's obsession is one end of an old curtain rail

Is this a normal thing for a child of this age to be doing? He is under assessment for ASD so I wondered if there might be a link to that, but thought I'd ask about kids in general first. TIA for any help!

My son does that. He does have ASD though!

Right, well that's one point of data on the board thanks! Anyone else?

My son still does at 25. Entirely neurologically normal but a fiddler. He’s always had pockets with strange items in them from uneaten sandwiches (not at 25) to small springs from biros to staple removers.

Hmm. DS1 is also a fiddler tbf.

They both tend to chew on things - the screech of 'take that out of your mouth' is sadly not uncommon. Is that normal?!

My 8yo doesn't wander off with stuff but he does always put stuff in his mouth! Weirdly he never did it much as a toddler but now it's his t-shirt, Lego, toys.. he doesn't have ASD or anything.

Bit of range then.... hmm.

My DS does it. He's 7YO and also being assessed for ASD/ADHD.

I do it as well. I am a fiddler and chewer. I've probably got what my DS has but never bothered pursuing a diagnosis.

My 26yr old still does that and quite often absentmindedly fidgets with it until it breaks. He’s always mortified and really annoyed with himself, when it happens. He has ADD.

DS does this, he’s a mini hoarder. 15!

He’s dyslexic and I think as he has memory issues he likes to keep things in set places so he doesn’t have to remember where they are.

Even if we replace things like little scissors he will still collect the new things.

DS2 doesn't hoard exactly, but he does have particular objects he obsesses over. Now I think about it, they all tend to be shiny.

Perhaps he's a magpie

DS has done it since he was old enough to grab things- we call him "The Swiper"!

You'd be carrying him around the house and suddenly- what the heck have you got there? He'd magpied something from two rooms ago.

He's always fiddling with things, tinkering, etc. I learnt very early on never to chuck anything into the washing machine without checking all the pockets.

He's a born engineer.

6yo DS with ASD does this. He used to attempt to shoplift as a baby, would grab random items off shelves as we were going round the supermarket and hide them in the sling, so I always had to be careful to empty my cleavage before we left .

Now many things in the house migrate to his bedroom - all usually shiny! He's always very happy to give them back and usually has no recollection of having taken them there. He just fiddles with everything.

DH (ADHD) is the absolute worst for this though. He's also a fiddler, and tends to abandon tasks halfway through so things end up in random places. Eg will be going upstairs to measure a window, DS calls him about a broken toy, so he'll go into the playroom, abandoning the tape measure on the hall windowsill on route, pick up the pieces of the toy intending to go and fix it, then remember he needs the loo, so will stuff them in his pocket and forget about them until he gets undressed that evening, at which point they'll end up on our bedroom floor because he's definitely going to take them downstairs in the morning... A week later the tape measure will still be on the hall windowsill and the bits of toy will still be on our bedroom floor. If the window has been measured it will either be with a different tape measure (also left out) or by some esoteric method ('it's about 8 and a half lengths of that book wide- I'll find a ruler later and measure the book...' The book will therefore also be left out to remind him which book it was he used.). He'll have remembered about the toy and got out the glue, but then will be unable to recall where the bits of the toy are, or have gone to get them but been distracted on route, so the glue will stay out until I put it away, or fix the toy and put it away, or DS swipes it and we end up having to buy more glue because I never considered looking for it balanced on top of the hanging rail in his wardrobe, or outside under the garden table...

Sometimes I think it's miraculous I haven't murdered them both 😂😂.

AveAtqueVale

I feel a bit murdery sometimes myself