OCD?

[Plummonkey88]

My 9yo son has been doing/saying some really out of character things over the last month.

1. He doesn't want to eat off cutlery outside of the family home because of how many people have used it - he knows it's washed but doesn't like the idea.
2. He had been playing with slime and the wouldn't pick his snack up with his hands Incase there was bits of slime on them, even though they had been washed.
3. He had left the lid off his juice bottle and wanted the straw washed cause it has been open for too long.
4. Dropped a biscuit on the chair and wouldn't eat it because it would have too many germs on it.
5. Not always eating food (thinking he maybe thinks it's been lying too long for him, but that's just me presuming with everything else)

How do I address this... It's never been a thing before and no one else in the family has any issues. I don't want it to become a big issue but also don't want to make it seem like it is one?!?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

What has he been learning about at school?

@Didkyle nothing to do with with from what I can see uploaded on the schools platform. They usually send out email with any sort of personal care/relationship information that's going to be relayed.

But this is about bacteria and food poisoning
they wouldn’t have sent a note out about that

I would have thought this would also be something they would inform parents about as it's not the usual maths/English. I will find out.. but parents night was last week and this subject wasn't mentioned.

Is he usually anxious @Plummonkey88?

The “What to do when” books are really good, and there is one dealing with OCD (What to do when your brain gets stuck). I’ve found them really helpful working through them with my child, but also just for me to read as they give you good ideas how to talk about things like this.