Cutting obnoxiousness out of my 9 year old...

[Anonymous]

My 9 year old is a sport-loving, very extroverted kid who is veering into sometimes obnoxious behavior my husband and I want to eliminate before it gets out of control.

Examples -- he does this obnoxious, stilted laugh that sounds sort of like the bully from the Simpsons (ha-HAAAA). He stretches and insists on making loud sounds every time... "HOOO AHHHHH!" etc.

He's super sweet and kind but these kinds of behaviors make him appear like a jerk or a bully. Any advice on how to nip this in the bud other than stop him every time he does it??? He's very competitive so maybe some kind of reward system for not doing it?

Would love advice from my parents who've been in similar situations!

[Anonymous]

First of all, calm down. Pretty much every kid I've ever met in this age range has some kind of annoying behavior(s)--a dumb laugh, some stupid catchphrase, silly voices, whatever. Just tell him, "Please don't do X. It's annoying." And then pay as little attention to him as possible when he's doing X. When you notice him not doing X, thank him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First of all, calm down. Pretty much every kid I've ever met in this age range has some kind of annoying behavior(s)--a dumb laugh, some stupid catchphrase, silly voices, whatever. Just tell him, "Please don't do X. It's annoying." And then pay as little attention to him as possible when he's doing X. When you notice him not doing X, thank him.

This has worked for us. We have an annoying laugh. I simply say, “OK, goodbye. You know I hate that laugh.” And I leave the room. It works 75% of the time. Not so much when she’s slaphappy and tired.

[Anonymous]

My son is also 9 and has a tendency to make loud annoying noises or stupid comments repeated from Minecraft videos. When he does it, I just say, "I'm not sure your friends find that as funny as you do." Honestly, I don't care either way but don't want him to push away other kids with this stupidity.

[Anonymous]

My god, stop criticizing the poor kid. His stretch? His laugh? Let him be unless you see specific issues affecting him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My god, stop criticizing the poor kid. His stretch? His laugh? Let him be unless you see specific issues affecting him.

Why not teach your child acceptable behavior?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My god, stop criticizing the poor kid. His stretch? His laugh? Let him be unless you see specific issues affecting him.

Agreed. What you're asking is how to stop a 9 year old from acting like a 9 year old. The answer is that, unless he's going to a formal occasion or it's completely out of hand, you shouldn't. Let the kid be a kid.

[Anonymous]

Good lord.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First of all, calm down. Pretty much every kid I've ever met in this age range has some kind of annoying behavior(s)--a dumb laugh, some stupid catchphrase, silly voices, whatever. Just tell him, "Please don't do X. It's annoying." And then pay as little attention to him as possible when he's doing X. When you notice him not doing X, thank him.

Yes. My 8 yo uses these silly phrases that she thinks are "cool" but are annoying to me and IMO, not even used right! They're all trying to be cool or funny, they're trying on different personas. Just let them work it out.

[Anonymous]

Mine can't stop doing these dumb Fortnite dances whenever he asks me for something. I remind him 1x that the dancing is fine at camp or on the playground with friends, but not when speaking to adults. Then I don't respond when he is doing the annoying dance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine can't stop doing these dumb Fortnite dances whenever he asks me for something. I remind him 1x that the dancing is fine at camp or on the playground with friends, but not when speaking to adults. Then I don't respond when he is doing the annoying dance.

I don't know much about Fortnite, but we were watching soccer the other day, and a French player did some kind of a dance after scoring a goal. DD said, 'That looks like a loser dance from Fortnite'. I refuse to believe that an adult would do something like that, especially while being on TV all over the world, but hey, to each their own..

[Anonymous]

Ah...whereas nothing makes me so happy as watching a bunch of boys do the floss by the pool with a total lack of concern for how geeky they truly are. Enjoy those carefree days while you can.

Now, if it's somethign that is truly annoying to ALL...but give him some leeway. It only gets worse before it gets better!

Mom of a 12 year old boy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My god, stop criticizing the poor kid. His stretch? His laugh? Let him be unless you see specific issues affecting him.

Why not teach your child acceptable behavior?

OP is not describing unacceptable behavior. She is being hypercritical of a kid who is acting like....a KID! If you read this board you have read 100 posts of people with low self esteem who complain about very critical parents with whom they are not close. I urge OP to take a longer view. But of course that's just my opinion and she is welcome to parent as she sees fit.

[Anonymous]

I don't know much about Fortnite, but we were watching soccer the other day, and a French player did some kind of a dance after scoring a goal. DD said, 'That looks like a loser dance from Fortnite'. I refuse to believe that an adult would do something like that, especially while being on TV all over the world, but hey, to each their own..

I believe you are referring to Antoine Griezmann, and I don't think he is too concerned about what people on DCUM think about his fortnight dance. He's too busy enjoying France's world cup victory and his salary from PSG.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I don't know much about Fortnite, but we were watching soccer the other day, and a French player did some kind of a dance after scoring a goal. DD said, 'That looks like a loser dance from Fortnite'. I refuse to believe that an adult would do something like that, especially while being on TV all over the world, but hey, to each their own..

I believe you are referring to Antoine Griezmann, and I don't think he is too concerned about what people on DCUM think about his fortnight dance. He's too busy enjoying France's world cup victory and his salary from PSG.

+1 Loosen up people!