18 year old DS telling silly stories about himself

[gingeroots]

Gave DS a lift with his 2 friends ( that's all he has ) and overheard him telling them silly tales - eg I was out cycling and a dog grabbed hold of my tyre and went round and round etc
I suppose it's to make them laugh ,but not believable or true .

There have been other instances ,but I thought he'd grown out of this .

Do other DC do this ? Am I being silly being slightly at what I see as clumsy social skills ?

Can't help feeling he wants to impress people ( understandable ) but this is likely to distance them .

Sounds like they are just joking around?

Quite old to be telling stories like this I would have thought. Is he usually immature emotionally and wrt friendships?

Gingeroots i know one of my brothers got hold of a bottle of self-tan, tangoed his face and fore-arms, went into school and told everyone he'd been to Barbados for half-term.Despite white neck etc,etc, he was only 14, but i think it's a lad-alpha bullshit thing. They don't get the hang of lying for years really,then they are fucking born to it are really competent. Wouldn't worry.

Pathan I think that's an accurate description - it's not just joking around that would be fine - he actually expects people to believe him .

I think he is young for his age - his 2 friends are younger than him ,and he's an atypical teenager - no drinking , ( though he fibs about this as well " I'm no lightweight ...when I know he doesn't drink alcohol ) no pubs ,no clubs .

He's off to a really small college to do a Foundation Degree in Sept and I'm a bit worried that he'll alienate people with his transparently fabricated tales .

Thing is ,I do think it's a sign of a big lack of confidence and I don't know how to discuss it with him without further denting his ego ...

Any advice ?

It's not just this one ocassion - I've heard him chatting on line while gaming and talking about how he's broken up with his girlfriend ( he doesn't have one ) and giving a convincing description of the reasons - which were a lift from the circumstances of an old friend of his .

I think he sounds lovely, maybe a bit unsure, he will find his feet at college and a group of peers he "fits" with.

I love 'sweet' teen/men those who are a little awkward, they always develop into solid people IME.

It's such a hard age, you just want to be the same as everyone else.Maybe you could approach it in a real light-hearted way.Please don't undermine his confidence, we're so fragile at that age.And after all it's a few fibs to 'big' himself up in front of pals.

Ok Pathan ,thanks for that ,makes me feel better - I think I might leave it ! Don't want to bungle it and make him feel worse !

He does sound like a very normal teen, it's a way of communicating and making friendships if you haven't got may exciting and wild events in your life...yet.
He's not impressing them, he's entertaining them. Otherwise the fibs would be bigger and more outrageous.

ginger wait until he's twisting your ears with real life dramas about girls, you'll wish it was all billybullshit, i remember my youngest brothers first {of many} broken heart, i wanted to kill her!.

Good point Goblinchild and ,deep breath , break my PFB's ( only B ) heart ???

Nooooooo .....

ds(14) does this - I've heard him telling friends he's going out with a girl when to my certain knowledge he's never been out anywhere with her, or even been alone with her! He's now apparently been 'dumped' ...

He's also told a friend that he was 'having a pizza with a few mates', which was almost the truth as long as his mates were called 'mum' and 'younger siblings'

I just kind of hoped DS would have moved on from this by his age - 18 going on 19 .
All different I suppose ,but I worry it's a viscious circle .
Not very popular so tries to make himself more interesting ,attempts are clumsy so not succesful .

goblin truth is they just don't mature as fast as girls, do they? I'd say most 18/19 yo lads are=to most of todays 13/14 yo girls. There is so much in the press about the pressure girls/young women are under, but not enough about the pressures teen lads have.