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The first thing he needs to learn is the difference between his indoor voice, his outdoor voice, and his baseball voice. The best way to teach that is to make it a game, in which he gets points for remembering and points for recognizing which is which.
I have a soft spot for little boys. The only time it would bother me is if I was seated with other adults, and a child attempted to join the conversation. Since you say the hotel guests were gathered around watching cartoons, I'm guessing they had kids with them too, and what your son did was actually admirable. He broke the ice, which is how vacation friendships start up. Too many children don't have the confidence to do the same.
The fact that you are aware of the possibility your son may be bothering others and make the effort to control the situation is the important component here. The only time other people's kids annoy me is when the parents make no attempt to correct any inappropriate behavior. You seem very sensitive and respectful of others, so I would have no problem spending a few minutes enjoying his company.
We don't have children. I'll say that up front. We were at a party and there was this very out going youngster that would not leave me alone. I was nice at first, but then I just tried to ignore him. It didn't work. Finally the parent saw that I was not enjoying all the attention from the young fellow, and rescued me. I even moved away from the kid, he followed...
Yes, I would be extremely annoyed by his behavior.
It's one of those situations that can be pleasant for some and yet may be annoying for others. There may be people who appear to not be bothered, but may be leery of how the child and/or the parent(s) may react if they reveal they aren't pleased with the intrusion.
The exceptionally loud voice is something that needs to be curbed by teaching the difference between voice levels and when each is appropriate.
The main thing about teaching a child social skills is twofold: you want the child to be comfortable in various venues, and you want people to enjoy being around the child instead of running in the other direction. It would be cruel if people walked away from a child and the child didn't understand why....it could cause emotional distress, hurt feelings and confusion.
I think you are handling it beautifully. Yes as a parent it can be stressful, however I think most people with children will not only be understanding but perhaps enjoy you son being so gregarious. I have the opposite issue with my son who is painfully shy. I do the best I can to teach him proper manners and etiquette, it doesn't always work.
I think most people are understanding. It take a village. Anyone who thinks poorly of you isn't worth your time. You are being a wonderful mom teaching him limits!!
It wouldn't bother me in the least bit...but I think around 13 or 14 when puberty strikes (lol) he will naturally tone down ...
Im quoting you, but several people brought this up. It is one of my concerns, but its toning down in his "tweens" already, so I am hopeful it will be naturally mellowed out by the time he gets pimples. Its also why we are getting him therapy. While our primary focus is him learning how to manage his emotions (he is a guy of pretty extreme feelings...which is part of his extreme happiness). We talked a lot about school and she actually quoted the teacher without having ever talked to her or my son. She said "he is too literal to enjoy joking around with his peers". Spot on. Apparently there are a lot of kids out there like him. He has friends now, and his teacher said he does keep personal space and doesn't interject too much (but its been a learning process for him for years). But can't really joke around with them because he is very literal. Lots of stuff he thinks is funny, but a joke at anyone's expense really upsets him. Or a joke that alters facts...just not funny to him. The therapist said she can help him with that.
When he does join in there are almost always kids, but more often then not the adult starts talking to him instead (this is what would happen if a kid came up and started talking to my daughter that she didn't know. She would by quiet (shy) and I would talk to the kid to be polite). He will talk to adults, but wouldn't go just sit down with them. He is less likely to talk to adults as he is getting older. I think the reason why he was doing this was there was limited kids areas in the lounge. I think he dominates the conversation when ever he can. We are working on that. He has a high IQ and really likes to impart his knowledge on the world around him LOL. He never stays too long or follows people around. He is far more flighty then clingy. We are working on saying good bye instead of just walking away suddenly.
Also mentioned, no I never get up in arms about other kids being mean to him. Short of real bullying, I think kids being "mean" is their way of setting boundaries and part of the learning process for kids. I did make that mistake once. A kid from his school who he is friendly with at school was rude to him in our neighborhood on Halloween. I did mention it to his teacher but asked her to look out for any continuing problems. Instead she talked to him about it. I think I made a mistake to get involved at all. Its been weird with this kid ever since and they don't play together in the neighborhood anymore. I don't know if it was the incident or if it was me getting involved. Short of something major, I am keeping my mouth shut from now on.
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