Walking "Nicely"

He's a kid let him be one. As long as he's behaving, not yelling, bumping into people, screaming, pitching a fit, etc let him be.

Well, let's see....my sons are 20 and 17 and I still have to say things like, "No, Chris, you cannot clog (or sometimes crump, or sometimes parqour) in the Kroger parking lot."

I kind of look at it differently. Who cares what strangers think. I am not invested in them at all. I am invested in my son and he is creative and hilarious. For us it's more about time and place. Kroger parking lot? Not such a big deal. Church in the communion line? Don't even think about it.

My kids are 13, 12, 12 and 8 and sometimes they still walk "weird." I figure as long as they're not getting in other people's way, what does it matter? Sure, they look weird...but they're working off energy and keeping themselves entertained while I'm running boring errands!

Have you ever seen Monty Pythons "Ministry of Silly Walks"?

Sounds like your son could get a job!

I guess around 4 or 5 she got past the silly walking.

Of course my husband still silly walks. so maybe they never grow out of it.

I don't remember, honestly. They still walk silly sometimes at 5 and 8. I would try to catch him walking nicely and pour on the praise like, Wow! look at you walking like.....(a big boy, superman, a 4yr old, a little man, etc. Whatever wouldmake him feel proud.)

He's still just a baby. Let him be silly. He has YEARS to be serious and walk nicely.

This is normal. He's full of energy. Why would you want to stop him? It sounds like you are concerned about what others think. Who is more important your son or some stranger?

My grandchildren are 9 and 11 and they still walk silly sometimes. I have to keep reminding them to not run in stores. I'm not embarrassed by them. I love to see the free spirit energy and wish I was less concerned about what other people will think so that I could be silly sometimes too.

I suggest that it might help if you praise them when they are walking nicely. Praise tends to make us want to do something for more praise.

not sure there is an "age" I sometimes have to remind my nearly 11 year old that she needs to walk nicely ( when she is in a silly mood, although I am the first to admit she is a little on the immature side)
Also I teach at a preschool and have a class of 12 3 year olds, and trust me walking in a line is always an adventure....we talk about "hugging a bubble" ( arms hugging ourselves) so we do not put our hands on our friends) and catching a bubble in our mouths( so we are not talking in the halls)
also I urge them to walk in a straight line so we are not all wibbly wobbly = )
this takes a lot of effort daily...we have some who want to hop and I remind them we are not bunny rabbits...we do indoor animal relays and sing the shake our sillies out song to let loose some of our pent up energy! Gentle reminders and maybe some bribery might work....I have to admit in stores I am still having my now 4 year old ride in the basket or in a stroller!!!

I don't walk in a nice boring way. I walk too fast, I shuffle my flip flops, I run office to office barefoot to not get caught at work, and I do stupid skipping and hopping in parking lots with my kids. :)

It could be worse. Check out the Ministry of Silly Walks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqhlQfXUk7w.

[Wow, I'm redundant! I didn't read anything earlier. My kids will walk normally sometimes, but I think whenever we point things out to them they go out of their way to be goofy. My 4 1/2 year old mostly walks fine, but more often than not I'm throwing my 3 year old over my shoulder because he's refusing to listen or hold my hand.]

I love this question and some of the responses you got here! My son is 4 and walks silly also. In addition to that he talks silly. His latest is he decides to pretend he is a tiger and growl at everyone. Very loudly also. Also, what is really funny is when relatives and friends come over we haven't seen in a while he runs around like a puppy dog and puts funny things on his head.

I feel bad that no one is really sympathizing with you here... but I love when my son does stuff like that. For the most part it cracks people up and puts a smile on their faces, either because they think my son is being funny, cute, or weird. When people don't think my son's antics are funny, I think they must be crazy, dull, bitter and lifeless. I hope you have been able to video tape some of his goofy walks. I just watched a bunch of videos from my son's first few years ... i was laughing out loud. I can't even believe how fast he's growing. I'm so happy that a friend gave me a flip video corder.

My youngest is eleven and I'm still waiting. Unless you are in church, I would let this one go. It's pretty funny if you think about it. And next time yell back "Nope, he's just having a good time!"