I'm no psychologist, Sara, but personally, I'd just try to enjoy it while it lasts! ;)

It may just be some sort of phase and I'm sure it won't last long. By age 8 boys don't want anything much to do with their mothers in the form of hugs and kisses. He'll outgrow it soon enough is my guess. Unless other things start to happen, I'd just let him go through it. But that's just an opinion.

Thanks, Granny. I never had kids of my own, and my stepkids were adolescents when I married their father, so I'm like a new parent in a lot of ways :-)

He is the cutest little thing in the world, but sometimes he's like a monkey on my back! LOL When we're in the pool every once in a while he swims to me and grabs me and I yell "here comes the Pool Leech!" and we all laugh. I call him the "Living Room Leech" when he shows up indoors. He gets a kick out of it, so I guess as long as he's happy...

Sounds like he's just going through a phase where he's needing some extra love & reassurance. He will probably outgrow it; although my son has always been a very affectionate person and is still very huggy/kissy & he's 22 years old. His son, my GS, insists on wiping everyone's kisses off right now, though. He thinks it's really funny. I think as long as he is keeping the hug & kiss brief - I would endulge him. I can see where it could be come a problem if he's coming in every 15 minutes and wanting to cling to you for 5 or 10 minutes, though! If that happened, I would have to find a way to push for time limits.

My 5 year old started doing the same thing here lately - but also is real whinny - My therapist says that it is separation anxiety. He needs to know that he fits into the world and you love and care for him. So just give him the extra love and attention - God knows they out grow that all too quick.

I thought of something else to add, Lady. He's probably a tactile learner. When he smells a flower, for example, does he stick his nose down in it? When he sees something new, like a new texture, does he HAVE to feel it??? I'll bet he does.

Tactile learners need a lot of touch. He's prolly just going through a learning/growing phase and needs the extra reinforcement.

Wow, Granny, that's interesting!

When he was five years old, his sister complained that her doorknob was coming loose. As a joke, my husband handed him a screwdriver and told him to fix it -- and he did!!!

At six he got an erector set for Christmas. My husband only showed him the concepts and parts and let him do the rest. Within a few days he had built an entire helicopter, complete with battery pack that turned the blades!!!

When we're reading together he has to pause to look at everything on the page, pointing and rubbing his finger on images that interest him.

I'll have to pay closer attention to him as he explores. And I'll have to look up "tactile learning" :-)

It's been discussed for several years now with grandchildren being raised by grandparents. Some call it the "velcro" effect. They say that they are afraid they will lose you like they lost their mom and they express it by staying very close to you, like velcro. My gs is 20 but there are days when he will come and hug me unexpectedly as if he is just checking I am here. When he 7/8 years old, he would practically sit on my lap. We were advised to just accept it, that he just needed reassurance I was there. It's rough on these kids when they have lost so much. It may not always be attachment disorder but can be part of it. He will eventually gain comfort enough to decrease this habit.

My grandson is 2 i've had him for a year, my daughter was neglecting him leaving him in his crib for hours, high chair for hours not kissing or cuddling him. This detachment was going on for a few months i determine, and when i would have him on the weekend he didn't want to go back to her until it was to the point that he was trying to claw his way back to me like an animal and screaming and reaching out to me, that night she called me at 1am to come get him he hadn't stopped crying since i left him. When i got there my daughter admitted her drug us and neglect of J.J. , that was a year ago. He is very clingy to me, i can't leave the room sometimes, he wakes up every night and comes in my bed, asks me for hugs and kisses. Calls me HIS Nanna, but he knows work, and sometimes say "no work Nanna", he goes to daycare, and they say he stops crying soon after i leave. Its overwhelming sometimes, hard to get a minute alone even to go to the bathroom, my youngest son is 17, so its an adjustment, but we feel its because of past. Kathy