My 9 yr olds Bad influence

amother

Sat, Nov 21 2020, 3:37 pm

My 9 yr old son has a bestie since kindergarten. He’s a really sweet kind generous kid. Like all 9 yr olds he has some immature and inappropriate behaviors. Thing is that lately when he’s in our house things get way out of control. He gets really aggressive around food and will empty the entire Shabbos party platter onto his plate. And leave a mess of crumbs n wrappers all over the house. He does the same thing at the shul kiddish. He’s not my kid I’m sure he’ll outgrow it and I wouldn’t care except my son is equally ill mannered when they’re together. They also get uncontrollably wild in an immature and destructive way. Breaking and damaging things. I’ve tried speaking to my son before he comes and after he leaves about being respectful of other people and things. But thier behavior always devolves into unmanageable chaos.
Should I limit play dates? Disallow them? I feel so bad cuz they’re such great friends and both are really good boys. But my son admires and is really influenced by his “silly” behavior

amother

Pewter

Sat, Nov 21 2020, 3:42 pm

Limit the play dates. Encourage other play dates as well. So the exposure is not so much. And so that you have time to regroup in between the play dates and can handle the times he is over.

behappy2

Sat, Nov 21 2020, 3:46 pm

I would make rules not just for your son but for his friend too.

We eat at the table. We eat what we are given. We clean up when done.

My attitude is is that if a kid is so comfortable in my house to the point of misbehaving I give myself permission to lay down some rules.