So I have had this 4 year old daycare boy for about 3 weeks now (and previously watched him late Jan. for only 2 weeks)...and he has come a long way since the first week as he had NO discipline at all...he wanted to do what he wanted to do, when he wanted to do it and in daycare that can't happen, I'm on a schedule and if he breaks the rules, all the others will think it's ok too and my day would be CRAZY!

So his first week I had to use a lot of time outs...I'm not mean to him at all, if he doesn't follow my rules he gets a warning and then if that is ignored I give a simple time out...his choice...he can behave and listen, or time out. I speak to him nicely as I do all the rest of the kids when we are doing things...when he misbehaves I get out my stern daycare lady voice so he knows I mean business.

He has been a lot better but he still is stubborn many times through the day. So lately when he is dropped off, he has been clinging to his mom and even though I try to sweet talk him out of a crying fit by offering him things to do he clings to her like a little baby (he's very spoiled by mom, remember he is the boy that got in her drivers seat with car running with his mom inside my house and it was ok with mom @@) and cries.

When he came to my daycare back in Jan. the mom said he didn't like the ladies at the daycare center he was going to and cried when she had to leave. He didn't do this to me back then but I was being played and wasn't being strict and he was a MONSTER in my house, touching EVERYTHING with no boundaries (helping himself in my daughter's rooms touching anything he could). So when he came back a few weeks ago, I laid out some rules.

Bottom line is this boy doesn't like to follow rules, and I have told his mom he is giving me a hard time and she doesn't say much. He is not a bad boy by any means, he's 5X better than a couple kids I used to watch, but he needs time outs from time to time to stay in line with rules.

So now I'm feeling like this boy hates my daycare because he cries when he is dropped off...although I know I'm doing nothing wrong, I get that stressed out feeling that his mom thinks I might be mean to him all day long, and I treat him very well, just strict with rules which I have to be, mostly for safety. This boy walks out my front door without me a few times and I have told him that is a definite NO NO, he is not to be outside without me.

Does anyone else have an older toddler that is stubborn with rules? Do they seem to go and tell mom you're mean? I don't want to be preceived as a mean daycare lady, but by word rules need to be followed in daycare.

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