<p>I have checked the account and no activity for the past month.
Your son sounds pretty typical.</p>
<p>There is a downside to Sons Who Talk and Hug. They are usually surrounded by an entourage of peers who are just as eager to get that hug and witty comment.</p>
<p>Mine emailed me in a panic. The phone agents charged him $400 deposit becuase he didn’t have a social security number!!! Obviously, he forgot our chat about the need to memorize that number.</p>
<p>My Son Who Talks And Hugs is 16. TJFSWTAH 
</p>
<p>I hope he’ll always talk to me; I know that this can turn, as mom60 points out. (But, mom60, I suspect it will turn back. Keep the faith.)</p>
<p>In my son’s case I think it has a great deal to do with his elder sister who has talked to/ hugged him like crazy from birth until her college departure (and still facebooks, myspaces, IMs him a great deal). She always included him with her friends, let him join in their group-- pretty exceptional, as he is 4 years younger. </p>
<p>Anyway he is ubercomfy with the ladeeez to this day. </p>
<p>Momof2inca: does you D’s bf have an elder sister?</p>
<p>Hey, SBmom. No, the BFWTAH is the oldest in his family. He has a brother two years younger who he is not close with and a sister who is 10 who he adores. I observed him at the beach yesterday with his family because it was his birthday and we were invited. He is very affectionate with his mom (verbally) and with all adults and when he pretended to grab his little sister and throw her in the surf, he asked for a kiss instead and then set her down gently. She obviously adores him. My son would never do such a playful and yet endearingly affectionate thing, though he does try to be kind to his young cousins and will spend a hour or so teaching them the finer points of Monopoly. He is just very reserved, aloof and awkward with his affection, even though we have tried to shower him with it his entire life. D is very affectionate and loves to talk and hug and really lights up the room with her personality. </p>
<p>The funny thing about the BF is that our D is his first GF. His mom confided in me that throughout high school (he just graduated in June) that he would meet girls but choose not to date them and that she said to him that he might be setting his standards a little too high… his younger brother is gay and, reading between the lines here, I think everyone in the family was wondering if he was, too. But, the mom said, when they met our D she had to admit to him that he was right to be picky because she really is great and was worth waiting for (I thought that was very nice to say and I would give 100 bucks to any mom of a D who would say that about my own S… and mean it, of course… and have spent at least an afternoon with him… 
). In the meantime, this transitional son thing is working out for me quite nicely!</p>
<p>Wow he sounds like a keeper! :)</p>
<p>So nice to hear about the other boys who don’t talk- we have the HS senior in high school who answers in mono-sylabbles. He doesn’t want to talk about college- he’ll do it in his own time. Doesn’t want any advice, doesn’t want to do it yet. I know I’ll miss him next year but I have the chatty two left at home (8th and 6th grade) with the younger b still huggy and chatty to the nth degree. I know other boys don’t talk but I’m getting more frustrated as the days go on. I’ve stopped expecting a lot but that doesn’t help the frustration. He invited two friends for dinner at the pool with us, one talks like he does and the other actually talked. Do these non-talkative boys talk to each other or do they just play video games side by side?</p>
<p>4kidsmom–at least he invited friends over!</p>
<p>Some boys only talk “shop”–to solve a computer or car problem–while others are good at small talk. I’ve had both kinds.</p>
<p>It is pure age discrimination in my book! DS#2 yaks plenty to his friends (and especially to his gf-- on the phone with her for hours)- But for anyone over the age of … oh lets say 30… he clams up and becomes mute.</p>
<p>My S has one friend, they’ve been friends since PRE SCHOOL. While he hugs me (hello & goodbye) he does not talk. Seriously if I added up every work I have heard from him in that whole time, it might not fill the airspace of an hour. My S swears that in a same age group he talks MUCH more.</p>
<p>So a mother’s question changes from “how can I get my 9 year old to shut up?” to “how can I get my nineteen year old to talk?”…</p>
<p>Both of my boys talk, but one of them is also very huggy–with everyone. He leans into nearly every companion as they walk along. His friends jump into bed with him if they arrive when he’s still asleep. Boys and girls.</p>
<p>We put him and his brother on a plane bound for respective universities last week. Three friends came out to the airport to say goodbye. After four rounds of goodbye hugs and kisses, he walked up the stairs to the gate. On step two, he leaned into his older brother and started some intense, intimate conversation. A deja vu scene-- times ten million-- from their childhood. He was still pressed into his brother’s side, whispering something compelling, as they went through security at the top of the stairs.</p>
<p>There are some kids you just don’t worry about.</p>
<p>jym–how quaint…phone conversations! ;)</p>
<p>My kids almost exclusively IM their friends. A couple of times I have suggested that a phone call would facilitate the event planning, but no, nobody <em>calls</em> anyone anymore. They just trust that eventually the parties will all connect online.</p>
<p>Sometimes the cell phones are called into play (in an emergency) but NEVER a land line. They’re so funny.</p>
<p>LOL mommusic!
He rarely talks on the phone. 99% of the time it is text messaging. Only to gf does he actually TALK on the cellphone. Must be at her request. He can text message extremely fast and without looking at the phone (no keyboard phone either- its a regular phonepad cellphone). Scary, useless skill.</p>
<p>Aw, cheers. I love that picture of your two sons walking away, talking intimately, off to their plane. Very sweet. :)</p>
<p>I finally caved and put everyone in the family on the same cell plan and got unlimited texting. I thought texting would just be a passing fad, but it turns out the under-20 set use it more than calling. Sometimes my D just sends this: </p>
<p><3 </p>
<p>to her boyfriend. Which is not “less than three” but a heart, which means love. At 10 cents a text, this and other texts were adding up. I will say, since I pay the bill and am privy to the information on the bill, that both my kids send and receive texts until the wee hours of the morning and when they are supposed to be paying attention in class. Sigh.</p>
<p>I wonder if texting will be with them permanently as they age or if it’s a young, single person’s habit that they will outgrow?</p>
<p>Page 2 rescue!</p>
<p>Hey, I just noticed I’m a “member” not a “jr. member.” When did that happen? I thought 500 was the next threshold. </p>
<p>Woo-hoo! Mimosas all around (it’s pretty early in the morning.)</p>
<p>Can’t resist jumping into this chat on boys and talk. I have been away from SA way too long and this made me smile. I too have a life long verbal charmer who went silent as a clam around 15 (at least in the presence of parents) and was such a bear at home through his senior year. (I would watch longingly from afar at events where it was clear that talk/hug was still operational, just not in relation to the maternal unit) Burdened by being a psychologist, I get why this happens but it still drove me crazy. I am glad to report that change happens and now that the sophomore year is dawning something else is occurring. Random informative emails. Occasional disclosure of endearing details. Still random and occasional but I have the audacity of hope. And it is so amazing to see them emerging as the men they will be.</p>
<p>Strike up the marmot band for mommusic’s promotion!!! All together, now—“for she’s a jolly good fellow…”</p>
<p>My husband did a sneaky thing. He called his nephew (sophomore at Rice) and asked him to give Mathson a call and see if he could worm out more info. So we now know that he hasn’t seen much of his dorm room or roommate because it was hot and he was looking for air conditioned spaces. He’s been playing a fair amount of ping-pong and fussball. Not sure if this is good news or not!</p>
<p>Hi mmaah:). Have a mimosa on us. And we can all shed a tear for the occasional endearing details. We share a lot of those here, that way it feels like more for all of us…</p>
<p>I love endearing details… don’t get many of them these days, but I love them! </p>
<p>Is “senior member” designated at 1,000 posts? I’m getting close, but at this rate it might be 2009 before I bump up.</p>
<p>Hey there! What did I miss? We were in Chicago a couple of weeks ago for the Second Life convention. Man, what a bunch of freaks & geeks, and I don’t mean that in a cutesy nice way like the charming 1999-2000 television series that went by the same name (loved that show!). We spotted a few ordinary 50-Something empty nesters like us, but I’m pretty sure that the majority of people who do serious work in SL were hiding behind planters while waiting for the opportunity to make a break for the revolving doors. </p>
<p>We were on the 18th floor of the downtown Chicago Hilton, so every elevator ride involved the frantic hammering of the close-door elevator button so that we wouldn’t have to share the 30-second trip with someone sporting dreadlocks, pink ribbons, and a collar. Imagine that every obnoxious dork you knew in high school grew up and became a computer addict with a leather & lace fetish. And, you went to a convention with them and all of their friends. :eek:</p>
<p>We got there a day early and took sluggson, whose goal was to arrange a meeting with independent rock producer, Steve Albini (which he did). It was his and my first visit to Chicago, and we were both in awe of what this city has to offer. Sluggson reminded us on the plane that we were on separate missions. We were there to attend the loser convention, and he was there to discover the best hotdog and deep-dish pizza places, go to Second City, ride the El, and meet with a rock producer. :p</p>
<p>To be continued…I just got a call for a custom avatar design. Back later. ;)</p>