"what are you talking about?"

[hipumpkins]

DD is 7 and will interrupt me wne I am talking to just about anyone and barge in asking, "what are you talking about?"
I find this behavior rude but am also not wanting to be rude back by saying, "None of your business"
It's not even always something that I can address as. "I'll tell you when I'm finished" b/c sometimes it IS is non of her business.
Also it is not like I am having these conversations in front of her and exclude her; piquing her curiosity. These are sometimes conversations in another room and she will walk by and then barge in in the conversation.
It drives me batty and I want a polite response to give her.

[Just1More]

As my brother did for me, I am doing for my children, with a slighty nicer twist.

He would touch his nose when I would do that, and kind of rub it a bit to remind me I was being nosey.

I do that as a GENTLE and quiet/unobtrusive/nonembarrassing reminder now that we have ALREADY had a conversation about boundaries and how it isn't polite to do that.

So...I say explain AHEAD of time why not to do that, and then just gently say, "not now", or "this isn't for children", or "we'll discuss this later," or some sign, like touching your nose, to remind her of her manners.

If you want to be sure she feels she can come to you with concerns or questions over things she may have heard, explain that it isn't polite to ask right then, when you are alone she may bring it up to you.

[ollyoxenfree]

It's also useful to teach children to say "Excuse me for interrupting...". It's what I would expect from anyone who involved themselves in a private conversation. Then, if she asks what you are talking about, you can explain that it is a private matter.

[velochic]

I like the above suggestions. I give dd "the look" (tilting my head and raising an eyebrow) and she knows she's just been rude during a conversation she's not involved in. She does know that interrupting is rude, she just sometimes forgets. I like gentle reminders at this age (dd just did turn 8) and reinforcements of manners. It's not always that they don't know, just that they don't remember. Even some adults have never learned to not interrupt.

[newbymom05]

I've always just said "This is an adult/private conservation and I'd like some privacy" and for interrupting I would bend down and softly say "Please don't interrupt" or "It's not polite to interrupt." Since I've pretty much always done this, interruptions aren't that frequent.I extend the same courtesy to them, or at least try to.

I think it may take your DC some time to get used to a new rule if he's used to interrupting or always being a part of the conversation. Personally, that would drive me nuts!!

[hipumpkins]

Just to clarify, DD does know to say excuse me when interrupting or "when you're finished..." the problem is that, to me, "Excuse me" doesn't quite work in this scenario b/c she is interrupting the conversation to find out what we are talking about. It , to me, should not happen at all and I was looking for a polite way to say, MYOB.