Are cyclical obsessions normal?
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Jimkooper
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Long time lurker, first time poster. Not sure if cyclical obsession is the right term but it's what comes to mind. Basically, my almost 4 year old will become totally obsessed with one show/movie/song/artist for about a month's time before either moving on to something else.
Right now he's super into Nightmare Before Christmas. This is what he picks to watch for daily screen time every single day. When he's not watching it, he's requesting to listen to the soundtrack. When we're not listening to the soundtrack, he's reenacting scenes from the movie or just talking about it in general. Is going as Jack Skellington for Halloween, obviously. He has tons of toys, books, other music options at his disposal but most of his day revolves around NBC in some sort of way. Before this, it was Into the Spiderverse and before that it was any and all songs by Marshmello. I guess I'm just wondering if this is "normal", whatever that means at this age, and in that same vein, if I should be redirecting him to other things or not letting him watch and listen to it as much. He does do karate 2x/week, goes to half day preschool 3x/week and plays with our 3.5 yo neighbor kid at least 1x/week so his entire existence isn't ruled by his obsession du jour, only 90% of his free time. |
Anonymous
| I would say yes, totally normal. Everything is new to them so there is a lot to discover about the thing (show, volcanoes, birds, whatever). |
Anonymous
| Completely jibes with my experience when my kids were that young - and also recurs during tween years with obsessions. |
Anonymous
| Yes |
Anonymous
| Totally normal, even through HS. |
Anonymous
| Addictive personality. |
Anonymous
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It was in our house, for sure. Still is in middle school, although she’s now able to overlap them somewhat.
But when she was little, even her imaginary friends were drawn from whatever the current obsession was. She just had to exhaust all the possibilities before she’d move on. Even if we’d cut her off from the books and TV and toys, she still would have worked through it all in her head. |
Anonymous
Not even close. |
Anonymous
| Very normal - with my son it was Disney's Robin Hood, with my GS it's anything Pokeman and with my GD it's Leap. |
Anonymous
| It’s pretty great—he is demonstrating a capacity for deep interest and enjoyment; why would you want to turn him into a dilettante? ? |
Anonymous
My husband is like this 
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Anonymous
| IDK if it's "normal" but this is definitely the case with my almost 4 year old. I think it gives them as sense of comfort. |
Anonymous
| Is NBC ok for a four year old? I would love to watch it with my 4 YO! |