I'm telling...tooo Much

respond with "mmmm" and nothing more. Whatever you do - DON'T take sides (unless there's blood involved LOL).

A great book that is funny and easy to read is "mom! jason's breathing on me."

Aww, I am sorry,I think this is kind of cute, I guess is because this haven't happen to me...yet.
If I was you, I think I just would tell him what you are saying to us.
That you love that he trust you and communicate with you but is not nice to tattletale unless is a danger or something he really things you need to know. You may need to say it a couple times before he totally gets it.
I think as he grow up he will not so interested in girl stuff for a while.

I'm a teacher and this is what I say to my kids at school (as well as my personal children at home): First, you tell the person to stop whatever they are doing that is bothering you. IF they don't stop, then it is time to bring an adult in to help. That way, I am encouraging problem solving (how many adults go running to their bosses to tattle on a co-worker?) BUT leaving the door open for help when it is needed (because as we ALL know, sometimes kids won't stop--as in the case of bullying--and it is important that children understand that they can get help when they are overwhelmed). Another thing I do (when the tattling doesn't even apply to the child personally--i.e. "Sally took Fred's red marker away") is ask the child, "Does this involve you?" If it doesn't, I NEVER give them attention for this negative behavior. Another idea that I have used is to them to stop and think about this question before they tell: "Am I telling because I want to HELP someone (i.e. If they are hurt, tell me. If someone else is hurt, tell me) or to HURT someone (i.e. I just want this person to get in trouble). These things usually cut down tattling to a bare minimum and sometimes makes it non-existent.

I used to be a kindergarten teacher and the tattling would drive me crazy!!!! They love to let you know exactly what is going on! I used this in my classroom so not sure how it would work with just one but it's worth a try. We spent a lot of time talking about tattling, when it's ok to tell and when it's not. We came up with, if it's dangerous, someone is crying or about to get hurt, or you have to go to the bathroom, then it's ok to tell and anything else is tattling. When the kids would come up to me and start I would immediately say "Is it dangerous? Is someone hurt or crying? Do you have to go to the bathroom?" If the answer was no than I would say "It's tattling and I don't want to hear it." A lot of talking I know, but it at least made them think about it and I didn't have to hear a lot of tattles, and it was kind of funny :) Good luck!

At four, he should be able to understand the difference between telling when someone is doing something dangerous or just to get someone in trouble. You can also start to tell him when he's told you something that you don't need to know, that isn't polite to tell about someone else, that is only the other person's business - and to point out and thank him for telling you something that IS important. I'd suggest that when he is tattling, the first response should be to ask him WHY he is telling you this. That may lead to one of the explanations I mentioned.
Good luck

Talk to him.......tell him that it's nice that he can tell you anything, but sometimes, he needs to just let it go.........if it's not REALLY important.............so when he comes to with something that was not really important, say, honey, thanks for telling me, but Mommy didn't really need to know that........it is just his way of getting your attention and that is good.........

You could just answer him and say, yes honey.....and let him go.....it will stop eventually......then you will miss it.......I know you don't think that is possible, but it is.........

Take care and have a good day.

Our rule is no tatling unless it is a safety issue. When our kids try to tattle we just say no thank you - no tattling. It works well.

He's old enough for some reasonsing exercises. When he comes and tattles start asking him questions like "Do you think that was important enough to interrupt mommy for?" "Can you think of some way to fix this yourself?" "Why are you telling me? What do you expect me to do about it?"

Also make sure that you sit down with him and talk about what kind of things need to be brought to your attention. These include of course: injuries, unsafe behaviors and anything else you find important. Tell him that he can talk to you about anything else that bothered him that day right before bed each night.

I joke sometimes that my son has only TWO career options available to him:

- Law Enforcement
- Journalism

Honestly... I like to turn things on their head. He's super aware of what other's are doing... always has been. So when it became "tattling" (my definition is to get someone in trouble)... if it wasn't "real" I'd do a bit o' reverse psych.

"Really?" Big smile, "Tell me all about it! / That sounds like fun / Why do you think they were doing that? Had they done ________ yet? " etc. Then "Thankyou so much for sharing with me."

By making it a "sharing something happy" instead of "you're in tr-ou-ble" thing the "nothing" ones phased out really quickly... but the serious ones got dealt with promptly.

I used to teach first grade. I've seen my share of tattlertales. What has worked for me was to explain the difference between tattling and telling. Telling is trying to keep someone safe. Whatever it is they are doing wrong is going to cause serious bodily harm (what I call bleeding or broken bodies). Tattling is calling attention to someone trying to get them in trouble. Since these are your kids, I would go so far as to put a timeout in effect. Start giving timeouts for tattling but make sure you reward a sincere "telling". Good luck, it will work out eventually!

You could try telling him things he doesn't care about in return. He says someone is "getting ready to tell on him" and you tell him that a leaf fell on the ground. =)
Or just make a list of examples of things to tell you about (someone is hitting the window with a remote control), and things not to tell (someone picked his nose) and make a game of it so he has to tell you if it fits in the Tell or Don't Tell category, and why.

The generic "only if is dangerous or important" statement is a problem, because there are dangers that kids don't know about that could be involved, and kids don't always grasp what is important, inappropriate or dangerous. They don't understand the laws of physics enough to anticipate danger.

I work w, young children and tattling can occur. The way we address it is when a child comes over to tattle we to put out one hand in a stop position and tell the children who is beginning to tattle to stop and you will only listen to their words if someone has been hurt or could be hurt, you will not listen to tattling. THis generally stops the tattler in their tracks. ANother method is to tell them that today you will only listen to tattling if they tell me 3 nice things about the person they are tattling on 1st, then you will listen to the tattle. This generally makes them stop to think of something nice then they walk away puzzled. I also tell them afterward to "go use your words" with ....Johnny.... Teach the child that if someone is bother them or doing something they dont like to say firmly and loudly, "Stop, I dont like that" or "Stop, that is not nice". This is a great tool for giving children that often prevents tattling and gives them confidence to prevent bullying. Tell the child if the friend doesnt listen to your words the 1st time then come and get me. Hope this helps.

I would try one of two things:
When he comes to tell you stuff, you might try saying "ok thank you honey for telling me that" and then talk about something else... or
just totally redirect him to something else, don't even say anything back regarding the tattle telling.. maybe say something like, can you go and get mommy that book or something that will get his mind off of what he was going to tell you in the first place. I agree with Denise, I think it will eventually stop.

In our house, if the kids "need our help" resolving a tattling issue other than someone getting badly hurt, then they would BOTH get a consequence and have to stop playing. We've never even had to do it, but since we are consistent with discipline at other times, they trust what we say if we say this would happen.

No one really tattles, but if they sort of try, I say, "Are you sure you need my help with this?" and the answer is always "nope!" and a puff of smoke where the child was standing. Sometimes for fun, if I overhear some over-board fighting going on, I'll yell, "Does anyone need my help resolving something in there?" and they'll quiet down.
Be firm!

Tell you son, "nobody likes a tattletale." Also each time he starts to tattle, tell him, "I do not listen to tattle tales"..Treat it just like whining..

In school he would be told to just stay away from the kids he is tattling on.. Or he would be made to sit next to the teacher and not play with any children.

The other thing I used to tell the children in the neighborhood is that they needed to "settle it themselves.". As they got older I would have them tell me 3 good things about the kids they were tattling on.. They got tired of it after a while..

Set him down and explain to him that you're glad that he has a sence of honesty, but some things he does NOT need to report. Let him know that if he continues being a nosy tattletale, there will be consequences. Only if someone is in danger or trouble, along those lines, is it okay to tell and to break a confidence. Being a butt-in-ski is not.
I do not agree about 'blowing them off', with "Oh thank you for telling me that enlightening bit of nothing". That approach could be destructive too. If they get the feeling 'mom isn't going to do anything when I tell her something', they will get the impression that it doesn't pay off to bring something to your attention. He's just getting a feel for communication skills, nerve-wracking as they are. I'm with the teacher who explains the difference between tattling and telling.

We always said as long as someone is not bleeding, about to get hurt and nothing is broken, if mom and dad don't hear it or see it you don't need to be telling us. And if you do, we still didn't witness it ourselves and don't punish things from tattling.

Take a day to train him about the difference between talking to you about something he's worried about and tattling. Go over lots of different examples, make it a fun game, and quiz him. Once you feel he knows the difference then let him (and the other siblings should be in on all this too) know that tattling is no longer tolerated in your home. Find a really strict punishment and don't waver.

Best wishes!

He is fighting the battle of who gets more attention and is moms good child he has to compete with someone know. You may have to sit him down and explain whats right to tatle on and whats wrong also make him feel hes yours n thats that hes look ing for attention