Anyone else's 3-4 yr old dc act like this?

[milkysallgone]

My dd is nearly 4. On the whole I would say she is fairly well behaved - just the usual threenager stuff, but she turns in to an absolute horror if she's ever told off.

For instance just now: I was on the phone trying to make an appointment; dd comes up and realises I'm talking to someone 'formal' and starts doing wild howling noises so I can't hear at all. She was definitely doing it for this reason. So when off the phone I sternly told her "That was rude" etc, and then she shouted at me really aggressively, and answered back to everything I said .

Now as I said - my issue isn't with her usual behaviour as such, but she will not accept any form of reprimand (however calm) without screaming back at me in defence.

Is this normal? How do your dcs react whne they're told off?

[Smee]

Totally normal I'd say - my DS often shrieks at me if I do as you did. I think it's party embarrassment, partly he knows he's in the wrong and can't bear to be told so. I always make him say sorry, which he does in the end after lots of harrumphing and more often than not more shouting at me.. . Thinking about it though, most adults are the same - if you say to an adult that you don't find something acceptable, the majority act defensively rather than apologising straight off. Shows the small ones are human then - though am not sure if that's necessarily a good thing...

[milkysallgone]

Thnaks smee, what you said about being embarrassed sounds spot on to me.

[Fennel]

my 4yo tends to scream and cry excessively when told off. She hates being reprimanded. So yes a bit like yours. She's quite well behaved on average but reacts very stronly to disapproval or telling off.