4yr old DS who starts to show off whenever people over and turns into his silly mode - what do I do?

[Roca]

To be short - I have a very active 4yr old ds who has a loving and sensitive nature but always been very active. He seems to get more 'silly moments' lately - talking in a silly voice, winding his sister up, climbing and jumping on things and especially when we have people over he will go from playing happily to hanging off me, throwing things etc.

I am actually starting to worry when people come round - I want to find a way to snap him out of it when he is being like it but no idea where to start. He can also get like it in a public place - sliding on the floor in shops and singing 'la la la' at top of his voice - I know this is all 'normal' behaviour but I feel I need to deal with it.

I also have a DD age 2.5 and am 9 mos pg with nhmber 3 - eeeeeek!!

aw - my DS does this and i know he is a lot younger but i don't have an issue with it

my view is they have enough time when they are older to conform and be sensible

as long as he is not being rude or hitting ect then i would turn a blind eye

Oh dear, don't all boys do that?! My son still does, aged 7. But he isn't so bad with our closest friends who know him of old!

Think he is not showing off as much as looking for a guaranteed way of getting your attention when you are focused elsewhere.

you have just described my almost 4yr old - jumping on things all the time and jumping off constantly - I wouldn't mind quite as much if he didn't bruise himself quite so much. Last week in one day he feel off the arm of the sofa, giving himself a black eye on the baby's bouncer, then half an hour later fell backwards head first off our bed! Bruising his head - i felt terrible sending him to nursery with a black eye and a bruise on his forehead!

not sure if it can be sorted out you ca set ground rukles maybe before people come over and before you go out

if you want my attentiona sk nicely dont interrupt etc make sure his busy doing something to distract him

as for going out if he can behave and act really well when he gets home he can have? or maybe a magazine he wants etc lots of praising when behaving really well

but apart from that i think its pretty normal just need to ground rule when you need behaviour to be different

My 3.8 yr old son is like this. God, it's annoying sometimes, isn't it? [grtin]

I haven't found a magic solution, yet, I'm afraid. But I am going to embarrass the hell out of him when he is 16 and trying to be cool by reminding him of how he used to run around with no pants on cackling like a loon when we had visitors over for lunch

Sounds like my ds(5). We've been tied in knots over this behavior for a year but after all the test results & med consultations (he's disruptive at school, too), it seems that his behavior is caused by insecurity, lack of self-esteem, attention-seeking, sibling rivalry... but nothing serious! Your ds may have other reasons for doing what he does but I so sympathise!

I can't bear that 'la la la' village-idiot stuff & his grinning vacantly at me when I ask him to stop. So I ignore him. I'm hoping thatonce he realises his silly behavior is getting him nowhere, he'll find a more positive way of getting the attention he craves. Psychobabble I know but what else can you do?

thanks for all your feedback - is reassuring to hear others have the same thing - though I feel for you!

He drives DH mad too when he just doesn't seem to listen. I had a friend pop in this morning and showed her some photos on the computer he kept trying to pull my hand off the mouse saying he wanted to go on it - he got really frustrated etc - he is never like this when it's just us at home.

It is just so annoying as I now always wonder whether he will get his silly head on and it kind of puts a downer on things when I know he is a lovely boy. I think I need to instill more cause and effect - ie if he behaves in a way I feel is not appropriate he won't get his story or sweets or whatever.

I'm just going to have a little scream about it here ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Quick further question - how does a 4yr old boy instinctively know how to wind up his 2.5yr old sister all day by taking her things and hiding them or drinking her drink etc - ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, again!

Guess that's what big brothers are there for....and guess as a parent it's my job to try and breath through it and deal calmly with it!