DH's son is out to visit for the summer. He lives full-time with his mom and we only see him for short visits a couple times a year. He seems to me to act much younger than his age. I don't remember being so immature at 10 (almost 11.) He watches lots of cartoons, talks baby talk, hits himself and calls himself stupid to get attention. Is in constant need of someone to keep him entertained. He has a TV, a playstation (with a bunch of games), and a laptop w/games yet is constantly trying to get me to do everything with him and play his games for him when he gets to a hard part. I would think that he would be old enough to get his own cereal or make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich if he's hungry, but I have to tell him to do it. We have to nag him to take a bath/shower and to brush his teeth. That's all I can think of right now.

I don't know if he acts this way at home and his mom hasn't done anything to change it or if he justs acts this way when he's at our house or maybe this is completely normal for a boy at this age. It was bad enough last summer but with my being pregnant (read: tired, cranky, sore, trying to prepare for the baby, etc.) this summer I feel that I may lose my mind soon!

Edited to add: I forgot the most annoying part. Everytime I stand up he has to ask where I'm going and everything I say is followed by a "why?" Then the answer to that question also gets a "why?" and so on. I thought that was something that younger...much younger...kids did. He doesn't cover his mouth when he coughs, burps or sneezes and I'm trying to teach him to go in the other room when he needs to fart. :?

You are not expecting too much. And it does seem that there are some things happening that are not age appropriate. Even my two year old can get the stuff out that he wants to eat - although obviously we don't want him to make it yet!

Honestly it sounds like he is lacking social skills. Does his mom not interact with him? Or does he sit with video games all day.

My brother was (and is) very similar -he is almost 17 now, and we have ALWAYS had to nag him to shower, brush his teeth, make himself real food to eat (he will snack on junk all day if you let him) I have a feeling my youngest brother (8 ) is following in his footsteps, but I am not around to see him like I was my older one, kwim? He still calls himself stupid, and beats himself up when he loses things, or doesn't perform up to his standards (which can be unreasonable at times, I think that is actually a perfectionist trait).

As for the cartoons and video games -Roy still does all of that and he is almost 30! :shock:

Most of it I would chalk up to normal boy behavior (remember, girls mature WAY before boys do!) and the rest of it I would say is from a lack of a good role model.

The more I think about it I do think it's a cry for attention. His mom recently got remarried to a guy with 2 kids of his own so I'm sure he's not getting much attention at home. He misses his dad so much then doesn't get to see him during the day b/c he's at work so he only has me around. My mom is going to help out and we are looking at getting him into some parks & rec activities so he can be around other kids his age. He does well in school so it's not a developmental issue. I chalk it up to poor parenting from his mom.