Ok, my DS4 is confusing me and I do not want to destroy this child's life. He is so different from DD8 and I'm completely at a loss on how to handle him.
He is very touchy feely. It's obvious that physical touch is his first, second, third, fourth, and fifth love language. Not even kidding. This kid is a cling monster.
He's also very short tempered and easily frustrated. If he can't understand or figure something out on the first try, he will loose his mind. Gets angry, throws it down, talks down on himself, and stalks away. I've been working on him with that. It's ok to fail. We just have to keep trying, believe in yourself, etc.
He's had a serious crush on a 17 year old for almost 2 years now. We're talking, serious obsession. He found out she had a purity ring and was "married to Jesus" and oh my gosh, the fallout! He cried for 2 months. He is always talking about his girlfriend and when they get married. When he sees her, he has to talk to her, stand next to her, sit next to her, you get the idea.
What in the world people??? I'm not encouraging this behavior. I'm not discouraging either. Just pretending I don't see/hear it. I'm hoping it's a fad but I wonder if he's subconsciously aware that when he gets big, he has to leave home and he needs someone with him when he does? He is very smart. His vocabulary is amazing. While he throws his tantrums, he's pretty mature. Would an almost 5 year old be aware of these kinds of things?
I just don't know how to maneuver this. If his LL is touch, I want to support that, but I also don't want to enable and encourage co-dependent behaviors. His future partner will hate me for that. How to I train him to self-sooth? How do you even go about that with a touchy-feely person that's 4, almost 5?