Do your children give unnecessarily longwinded answers to simple questions...?

[roisin]

DS1 (9) is driving me nuts, and embarrassing himself in public, because he just doesn't seem to get the concept of giving brief and succinct responses.

A year ago he seemed to have improved a lot, but now it feels like we're just back at square one.

This morning there was a big queue in the library. The poor librarian only asked him for his name, age, and school.
The transaction took about 10 minutes, and included ds1 quoting Einstein to her
There was a time when I would have found that rather amusing, but now it is just deeply worrying.

Sympathies My son is quite like this when he's not being so shy that he finds it hard to say anything at all. Is your boy at all aware that he's doing it? At the time or afterwards? Have you tried being quite blunt (NOT unkind but honest) about the fact that it is embarrassing and not on? How about practising with him at home?

There might be some useful advice here too. Not the same thing exactly but, I think, maybe related. Tamum's "Oh how very interesting!" game sounds apposite but possibly too humiliating for a public situation...

Thanks for the linke Sminkopinko - just what I needed!

dd has this problem to some degree and it was partcularly bad when she was aged 9. Verbal Dihorrea. it drives you mad but it gets better. i ended up trying to explain tht she didn't have to actually say evreything that was in her head and that she could just think it. i think at 9 she didn't understand that.
the thing that made me go crazy was the constant background talking- in the back of the car there would be her giving a running commentary on EVERYTHING. ifelt like my own thoughts were being stolen!
rosin it will get better honestly. at 11 now the problem is she wants to be secretive and not tell me anything! funny isn't it!

ds1 is the same, he's 10. i have resorted to saying come on just get to the point which i know is awful
he also follows me around talking constantly about computers. he is actually a real whizz but i don't know what he's on about most of the time and it bores me to tears.
He won't go and mix with all the other kids outside (which worries me greatly) he seems about 20 years older in the head!
this is what the next 7 weeks are going to be like, i am going to be insane!
sorry, went off on one there didn't i.
don't know what you can do about it really but at least your not on your own.

Dd2 is like this as well. Her re-telling of her favourite books usually takes longer than reading the books themselves! But she has an incredible eye for detail which never fails to amaze me.