My 2 Year Old Won't Be Silly!

Try taking him to places to spark his imagination. Circus, Children s museum, puppet shows etc......does he like watching movies like Shrek and such? Read some fantasy books to him about unicorns, dragons, and things......He may just need a spark......or maybe he will grow up and be an engineer!! Hee Hee.......Has anyone ever made fun of him for doing something? Sibling? Friend? Ask him why he won't do it. And ask him why looking silly is so bad once in a while.......do you act silly? Maybe he is taking his cue from you and Dad. Think about it and just do the things that you think he should do, like singing while you are in the car....etc. Good luck!

I have a huge smile on my face! I loved reading your question!!
This is my oldest son-- exactly!

He is now 18 yrs. old and going off to college in August and he is not silly.
He is a serious young man. But he is very bright.
In 7th grade he had the reading level of a college freshman. He is very responsible. He got a job as a 15 year old as a lifeguard, despite other kids telling him he'd never get hired as a 15 year old. He got a fabulous evaluation at the end of the season and a nice raise the following summer.

I think it's the way they are wired when they are born. I have not found a way to change it. But I think (I hope!) he relaxes more around his friends at school than he does around adults or on the job. My best suggestion is to encourage tolerance of others with your son. My oldest once went on a youth retreat where their were skits and games, etc...all weekend. He didn't enjoy it that much. He got a lot out of the Bible Study and small group time. And he started to ridicule some of the others who were goofy the whole weekend.
I had to talk to him several times about the fact that everyone is different. Just like he wouldn't want people judging him for not participating in the skits, so he shouldn't judge others b/c they love the skits and don't really want to settle down for Bible Study.

I am kind of that way, too. Guess I understand him. Once I attended a weekend continuing ed. workshop. By Sunday afternoon, we were all tired and ready to leave. The leader of the last session wanted to wake everyone up and "bond" one more time. Turned on some hip-hop music and wanted everyone to free dance for 3 minutes to "make us alive again." It was horrible.

My son is very constant. He is like a rock. Don't know if yours is that way. It takes a bit to make him really excited, but it also takes a lot to really tick him off. He is very predictable---steady---solid. Unlike my other kids. yikes.

Your son will find his own "niche" and the way that he can use his gifts in life. Just offer him lots of opportunities to try things and be exposed to a variety of things without forcing anything upon him. (Like that stupid "free dance" I had to do.)

You have completely described my 7 year old son. He is a thinker...he prefers to sit back and watch the other kids and then after awhile he will join in. He does get silly with immediate family, (me, dad, older brother & sister). He tends to have a very one track mind and is very particular in the way things are done. (His room has never been a mess, his toys have their place and that is where they go...and he can tell if you have moved them with barely a glance, it is almost unnerving). He has gotten better about playing/joining in with his close friends (there are 3-4 boys that are a little group of friends that he is able to open up around and be silly) Hopefully as your son gets older it will happen for him. I know that my husband is not the silly type but the very serious type and I am the over the top ultimate goofy person!

Yes, he's wired that way, and probably perfectly happy about it. Don't try to change him, it won't work and will just make him feel there is something wrong with him, which there isn't. It's just a personality type.

My whole family is filled with engineers - it's definitely a different mindset. That being said, I'm a biologist, so not much better in the "fun" department.

It could be his intrinsic personality, but I don't think it's completely common not to want to partake in all those activities. Here's what the parenting site from the American Academy of Pediatrics says about emotional milestones for children his age: http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/toddle...

If he has a well-baby visit coming-up soon, I'd remember to ask the pediatrician about it.

I praise you and your husband for taking action to try to get him involved in things. The more you try, the more you may be likely to find one that really resonates with his interests and brings out different sides of his personality that he's not expressing right now.

Good morning, I would love to introduce myself, I have twelve children, and in that mix, I have a couple of the "serious" types. Please be assured that there is nothing abnormal about your child, he is just fine. I would be willing to bet that he is a very smart child, and he is already probably a little advanced for his age. He could be attracted to cooking because there is a process he can identify with that makes sense to him. His personality just is different from a child that loves the imaginary arts types of things. You are both engineers, and that might indicate that you are very detailed folks, he might be as well. There is a website that you should check out, it is great. It is called My Wired Style, and it will give you great insight into what you are seeing and experiencing with your child. My guess is that your little guy may be a very "C" wired person, how fun! Just imagine all the wonderful things his future has in store for him, and you! Cherish your children, love all the time you have with them, and help him discover and develop all his own particular gifts and talents. Have a wonderful weekend. G.

Don't worry too much about silly, but focus mroe on imaginative play ( let's pretend we are....) if he has trouble with that you may want to spend some time when you read books talking about the imaginary world and pretending to be characters in the book as imaginative play is a developmental milestone and needs to be fairly strong by 4 years old. Other than that... so he's serious that's fine. The world need serious as much as silly and maybe his sense of humour is just more refined:)

Gymboree Play and Learn is a great place for babies / toddlers to be active and interact with other babies. I take my son here and love that he gets to interact with other kids all is own age.

But your son may also be as others said just developing his own personality.

There is nothing wrong with your son. We are all different. My only daughter who happens to also be the middle child was so quiet and shy as a toddler that no one outside her immediate family ( me, her daddy and her older brother) even knew she could talk until she was nearly 3. She has moments where she can be silly, but for the most part it is only around us, and I have to admit that sometimes it does seem like she is "acting or that it is "forced" She does play but it is always quietly and she is more interested in art or reading then a lot of stereo-typical girl toys. She does have an awkwardness around her peers, but Truelly I am not that concerned. I see that she is very much like her daddy who is also awkward around other people and yet he was still smart and charming enough to win me over and I am a loud mouthed, want to be center stage kind of woman = ) *IF* he isn't reaching milestones then I might be a tad concerned, but from your post he sounds very well adjusted, I might talk to your ped about it. I do have a niece who has Aspergers, and that is a whole other ball of yarn, but honestly I think he is just his own little individual self and perfect just the way he is ( even minus the silliness)
Warmest wishes
B.

My youngest son was very serious at the same age but now he is 3 and is as silly as it gets. My older son (24) had a silly spurt when he was young but then he settled down to Mr. Serious just like his dad - now the only time he get silly is when he plays with the 3 year old. They are all wired differently so have a good time with what ever phase he is going through.

Take him for a walk some warm rainy day - have on rain coats and rain boots - and jump in puddles with him. You should have seen the look of delight on his face the first I showed him how it was done. I showed my son once, and he caught on and is an avid puddle jumper to this day. If you ever get a big box of corn starch packing peanuts, go take the box and peanuts out on the desk and play. When you are done you can hose them down and they'll dissolve. Read Dr Seuss to him a lot. Be silly with him yourself - but be sure you teach him a signal when silly time is over and should stop. Once they get started, they often have a hard time knowing when to quit.

My son is going to be 7 next month, but he was always a very serious toddler! I used to think, why can't this kid just push a truck around saying "vroom, vroom"? LOL He's always been very verbal, intelligent, serious and complicated! Your little O. is just showing his own, unique personality.

This sounds so much like my younger son. He is 16 now and has learned to loosen up a little but he will never let loose as much as some kids his age. His group of friends are somewhat the same way and they are very happy. My son is very intelligent and detail oriented and is NOT a follower which is fine. I always know if he did something wrong it was his idea not someone else.