Do any of you think a child is rude...

[Shybaby]

if you say hello to them and they ignore you?

Before anyone jumps, not a troll post. An honest question. I'll tell you the full story in a moment!

No I wouldnt DS1 wouldnt speak to people until he was about 6 - I can remember someone from playgroup following us home once with him chatting to me she said "that is the MOST I have ever heard him speak"

I do always say "oh arent you going to say hello" but tbh honest maybe they feel shy, maybe they dont like the person - who am I to tell them who to speak to because I am the "adult"

They do say hello to people they see regularly but are reticient with strangers - I dont think that is a bad thing in this day and age really.

I was being tongue-in-cheek@FairyMum!

No. In fact, I often seem to ignore people because I simply haven't noticed

I would assume they were equally dippy

My 4yo is very sensitive. Sometimes he will say 'hello', mostly he wont tho...which I'm completly fine with, as he sometimes becomes overwhelmed if there is any fuss are attention on him.

My mother used to say to ds " oh, your just a bit shy" , which I had to put a stop to as ds started saying " I'm too shy to say Hello" or "I'm too shy to talk to that person". He's not neccessarily 'shy' as he will talk to people quite confidently but it depends in what manner the adult speaks to him.

Agree with Uriel -Don't tell people your kids they are shy...it creates a pigeon hole for them.

I am sure a lot of children are told not to speak to strangers and then we expect them to talk to people they barely know, in some circumstances.

My DD won't speak at all until she feels comfortable and it depends on the situation as to what I do about it. She is 4 too.

No I don't think it is rude. Some children are just very shy. When I was doing my childcare course we were told by out tutor never to insist a small child says hello.

DS1 and 2 are very reluctant to talk to people they don't know. I'll nudge them if I have to, but I'm not going to force them if they're uncomfortable just to please some random adult. DD on the other hand is hugely outgoing, to the point where I get uncomfortable because she keeps putting me in situations I wouldn't naturally put myself into (very awkward with social stuff, godawful at small talk, just cannot do it) I definitely wouldn't get upset over being 'snubbed' by a 4YO, I'd imagine being towered over by an adult is fairly intimidating in itself!

So, in honor of this thread, I had major (not) incident this morning.....
This morning, ds, being the usual it's Monday and I don't want to go to school today, insisted that he was "burning up" and needed to take his temperature. So, I encouraged him to do so, which he did, only to discover that his temperature was 94 degrees (farenheit). He was beside himself and it was all I could do to get him out the door as his entire focus was on contemplating the phenomenon of his "freezing" body. So we get to school and one of his best friends comes over waving his arms and yelling hi. Ds completely ignores him as he is totally preoccupied with 94 degrees. Friend isn't bothered and goes off to his class. About 20 minutes later, I get voicemail from father of one of ds' other good friends. He is totally agitated because both he and his daughter said hi to ds this morning and he "totally ignored them." I did try to explain to this dad that it did not surprise me as ds had other things on his mind.....but he was entirely unconvinced (despite knowing ds quite well for several years).

Just goes to show that those who are determined to be offended by completely unoffensive behavior will be so, regardless of common sense....