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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>4 Yo DD Is Driving Me Crazy! OT
SunshineMama 07:33 AM 06-22-2012
My just turned 4 year old is driving me nuts. This week, she tripped her little sister and has been doing things to instigate her, and is whining and crying about everything. She is not listening to anything I tell her to do the first time I tell her. I feel like everything is a battle with her and I am getting so fed up. She says she likes to get messy. Spreading yogurt around her face like a beard, soaking herself in the garden hose when I try to let her be a big helper and water the garden, playing in the dirt and getting dirty on purpose, splashing water out of the bath-tub, bumping into me when she walks by, rudely, and lying. She is acting like a spoiled, rotten brat.

I am trying to have her be my big helper, but she is making it so difficult. For example, I will let her stir and measure something, but she will make a huge mess.

I dont know what to do. I have tried sitting down and giving her extra quality time. I have tried talking and reasoning to her. I have tried time outs. I have used a nice voice, I have used a mean mommy voice... everything that I know to do.

She is very, very smart for her age. I know everyone thinks their kids are smart but she is at a level that is way above and beyond any other child I have ever seen, so she knows what she is doing. She understands things on the level of a middle school student. I think part of the problem is that she is not in school right now and she is very bored. She is the oldest of all of the kids and I know it has got to be hard for her. I am unable to give her the attention she needs because I am caring for a bunch of younger kids a lot of the time. If I give her an activity she loves, like beads,for example, all the little kids want to play and whine about it too, and she would not want to go off alone and play them.

So please offer any advice that you have. I am willing to try anything. I dont want my child to suffer bc of this profession that I am doing but I have to figure something out because I cant quit now.
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SunshineMama 08:35 AM 06-22-2012
Ok I just read the 4 year old defiance thread.

It is an age thing?

My daughter is a gem for everyone else, but a terror for me.
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cheerfuldom 09:14 AM 06-22-2012
my kids are like that. VERY well behaved every where else but definitely challenging at home. I have a 4.5 year old that is SOOOO ready for school and getting into trouble this summer. I am guessing it is due to testing the boundaries, some boredom, looking for things that are challenging or stimulating
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AmyLeigh 09:18 AM 06-22-2012
Originally Posted by SunshineMama:
Ok I just read the 4 year old defiance thread.

It is an age thing?

My daughter is a gem for everyone else, but a terror for me.
I think it may be. My ydd will be 4 in October and she has been acting up lately, too.
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SunshineMama 09:26 AM 06-22-2012
So what can I do about it?

I just told her today that if she wass going to act like a little kid I was going to treat her like one.
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