Strange Behavior from 4 Yr. Old

Children pick up lots of things in school. And the amazing thing is, they hear everything, even teachers talking, they are all listening. My child has come home telling me stories of what she heard the teachers talking about. Thank goodness its all about pets and what the teachers have planned for the weekend but it shows how much they listen to everything.
If he was just saying, he was going to throw his dad in the trash, okay, he might be upset over something, but to say im going to shoot you, that will only come from hearing from somebody else who have said those words angrily or hearing kids play violently like with these super hero stuff.
Thats why I prefer Dora no matter how annoying and loud she could get compared to all the super hero stuff kids watch these days. At least Dora is all about exploring, helping others and teaching spanish.
Like the advice of another person, talk with his teachers. Kids are very impressionable.

Totally normal! Though I have to admit it took a while for me to get used to. I would hear things come out of my daughter's mouth (now 5.5 yrs) and be like "Where did you learn THAT?" because I was used to her only talking the way we talk at home or talking about what we talk about at home. Sometimes it is funny (like when she started saying at 4 "What the heck? My mommy is maniac!") and sometimes doing things that are not funny at all (flipping off her two year old sister). It is the just the beginning of the long, long road of what our kids will learn out there in the big wide world and all we can do as parents is to teach them what is right and what is wrong and why we don't say and do XYZ just because so and so at school does. Good luck! :)

My daughter is 5 and has been going to her preschool for almost 2 years and I've noticed a big change in her behavior. Some good and some bad. The good things shes became more open and expressing her feelings but the bad is some things she says. My son is 3 and he picks up a lot of what his sister and their little friends say. I have stopped letting them hang out with some of their friends so much and have seen a difference in their attitudes.

He has heard it some where and he may not even know what it means. Just tell him that is not nice and give him your standard punishment. We do time out. My oldest is 3 1/2 and he's been testing the waters with comments like that lately. My Grandmother died last summer, so we've had a lot of discussions about death. Yesterday he told me, "Mommy, I'm going to dead you!" We discussed what that meant (that he'd never see me again), he sat and time out, then apologized. I'd just ask him where he heard something like that. Then tell him, "We don't talk like that! It's not nice. Do you know what that means?"

It's definitely normal, but I would not IMMEDIATELY punish him or give him your standard punishment as others have suggested. 4 years old is a developmentally important time and he is testing the limits and boundaries of your parenting and the household. I would probably assume that, yes, he did hear it from either kids at preschool or saw a situation like that on a TV show. I would give clear rules about the kinds of things your family says and why they are inappropriate. If the behavior continues, even after your clear and specific rules about these types of comments, then I would proceed with consequences. But never assume your 4 year old actually understands the reality of what he is saying!! :-)

My son (3 years) also says that he will throw people in the trash. He does not really understand what that means. I just tell him that we don't say that about people.

he is adding new words to his vocabulary but really has no idea how to context them. when he does say something like that just call him on it and make him analyze what he just said and show him how it makes no sense or can be somewhat hurtful.
Why would you put dad in the trash can, he cant even fit in there? Why would you want to do it? Watch his eyes roll as he tries to figure it out, it will teach him to use his words wiser. Slow process tho, dont expect overnight results by any means :) Mostly you just have to laugh at this stage and tell your son how SILLY he is.

influence of course! and it is only going to get worse.. lol

Yesterday my bright 5 year old wanted something really silly of mine and asked if she could have when I am dead. Kids construe strange things out of reality.

Yep, I get that from my almost 5 year old as well. He's in his second year of preschool. When his sister was born he said "Throw that baby in the trash!" for months. I tell him he can say it but he can't _do_ things that really hurt people.

My four year old has said similar things and I was starting to worry myself. I wasn't sure if it was something he saw on tv or from school ect. It seems to be phasing out though as we started giving him time outs when he says these things. Perhaps it is a 'normal' phase kids go through.