Okay, so I know you're not supposed to talk what your children say seriously but this sent chills down me.

[WinkyWinkola]

DS (4) had a nightmare at about 5am. He came into our bed. All fine. He wakes at 6am as usual and starts pinching DH who asks him to stop because he's still half asleep. It hurts DH who eventually gets ratty and snaps at DS.

DS lies still and doesn't say anything. Then he says, very quietly and calmly, "I'm going to get a gun. A real one, not a toy one. And I'm going to shoot you dead, Daddy." And he turns to me and says, "And shoot you dead too, mummy. Stupid idiot mummy."

DH and I just lie there, frozen. WTF? Or am I just taking it too seriously? And where in the hell is he getting this stuff from? Give me a shake and tell me I'm being daft.

Meanwhile, he's still raging about everything he can think of from wearing/not wearing a vest to not having third lollipop in one day.

that would freak me out a bit too
sorry

What's he been watching?

he's being a 4 year old boy, and a tired one to boot. A friends child used to threaten to kick her in the eyeballs.

He watches kids stuff. He watches BottleTop Bill, Charlie and Lola and The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I used to let him watch Ben 10 but I realised he was becoming even more aggressive so stopped that after a couple of weeks.

Yes, that would freak me out.

However, my nephews have come out with similar things. One of them had been watching the news and told one of his friends he would get the Iraqi terrorists to come to his house and blow up his parents.

They don't understand the gravity of things like guns or death at this age, they just know it's bad.

It may be from a game he plays with his mates. In his dream he may be playing the game with you.

Yes would freak me out too.

Good. I mean, I don't mean good but we were so stunned. DH just told him not to say such nasty things and we then both got out of bed and bustled off as quickly as possible.

And then the usual first rage and tantrum of the day kicked in because I wouldn't let him have chocolate buttons for breakfast. That was massively preferable to his coldness before!

Does he go to freinds house and possibly watch more violent or aggresvie things there? Or do his friends ahve older siblings who might watch or play more aggressive games.

I actually banned all TV a few months back because I could not think where else DD1 was getting some of her ideas from. I have to say that it has improved her behaviour no end. The first week was hard because she kept asking for TV and whining but after a week she seemed to forget and now she never mentions it and ALL her behaviour has improved. I have become quite annoying evangelical about it now. I know its not for everyone, but I really recommend experimenting with a TV free house.

I meant good in that other little ones come out with that kind of stuff too.

My 6yo has taken to saying things like "if you don't let me do xyz I will stand in the road and get run over/stab myself with a knife/etc etc etc..."

Drives me nuts but we just tell him "what a silly thing to say" and try not to let him see it upsets us (plus obviously not giving in to his blackmail!!!).

I am so grateful that my DS is only 2 and doesn't have words to articulate his anger yet! Looks like I've got a lot to look forward to... and figure out how to deal with .

out of interest, OP, why are you not supposed to talk about what your children say?

sorry, just realised it was a typo!

If it makes you feel any better, DD (4) has said over the last year:

Sitting bolt upright in bed just after I'd kissed her goodnight: Mummy, dark forces are coming. Coming to get you.

Talking to DH at bedtime:

DD - I'm a magic cushion, Daddy and I can fly you to wherever you want
DH - that's nice, can you fly me to the seaside?
DD - no, I'm going to fly you to the dark burning place that you can never come back from (said with dead calm coldness).

Bouncing on the bed last week while I was putting washing away, I suddenly became aware that she was chanting "I'm the Queen of Hell, I'm the Queen of Hell..."

I let her touch my Lourdes water and she didn't shrivel up, so I'm assuming she got it from somewhere else... waaaah!

Fruitbeard- Lol Have you checked her hairline for any 'suspicious' birthmarks? Whatever you do don't let her ride a trike in the house!

OP, I was quite shocked the other week seeing my DS also 4, making a gun and playing a shooting game with his mate. I only let him watch fairly tame things so was taken aback by the graphic nature of the game "I'm going to blast you so all your blood comes out" etc. I'm sure that he must have got some of the ideas from friends (he's always playing power rangers and has never even seen it to my knowledge)and I also think that it's a four year old thing. Violence and death seem to be the theme de jour!

Mine,3, is obsessed with violence too, and directing most of it at us. The only tv/dvd he watches is ivor the engine but a lot of it comes from nursery. That does sound a peculiarly horrible exchange though, poor you.

Our girl used to say stuff like that a lot. I couldn't work out how she could ever know some of the sh1te that came out of her mouth. I worked out that she was hearing all sorts at school and had a word with her teachers. The school bus now is the source of crap. Just before the end of term she told me I'd go to hell because I don't believe in God. I pointed out to her that, just because I am sensible and have a different view to her it doesn't mean that I am automatically condemned to a heated eternity, and, that it isn't kind to say something like that and I hope she wasn't saying it to anyone else etc. etc. When she had climbed down from her high horse, I asked her where she'd got that idea from. She told me that a boy on her bus told her. I have nothing against organised religion (apart from the waste of time), in fact her and her dad are regular church goers. The boy who has appointed himself her spiritual advisor is a strange child from a strange family. Mother claims to speak in tongues etc. She is not on the same school bus now. Her behaviour and vocab also disintigrate if she watches Tracy Beaker. BANNED in our house. I am I would like to think a very liberal person, but that little minx is beyond the pale.

Maybe he was still half asleep in the middle of his nightmare and was not happy that DH didn't stand up for him/told him off in this nightmare.

Like others have said, I don't think they fully understand killing and death at this age.
They hear stuff like that from the news, nursery, on public transport, friends, friends older siblings and parents, etc...

we should put a book together of all these types of interchanges with our children - some of them are hilarious!

A friend and I were talking about this stuff the other day. She was a bit shocked when her dd violently and repeatedly stabbed a toy dog with a fork. I was somewhat aghast when my 2yo pointed to the bedroom floor and said "that is where the fire is, the fire for when you die"

my ds2 used to insist on being called Michael when he was 3 or 4. ''why Micheal?'' I asked.
''Michael was name before you became my mummy and daddy'' he deadpanned.....

And I was VERy freaked out by the 3 yr-old daughter of an aquaintance who speaks very clearly. She looked at a dead bird on a walk and said. ''dead. No vital signs''