I am a naughty boy mummy

[clare40]

Thats what he keeps saying and if I tell him he is not, he says he is. (And to be honest he does a lot of naughty stuff - hitting, throwing etc), but I PRAISE anything/everything good, but it's like he wants to be the naughty boy. Oh I don't know what to do?! Does this sound really odd??

how old is he? apparently i was like this as a child...admitted to things i hadn't done. According to my mum i liked the drama of it all!

"Yes, dear"

ie ignore it and see if it goes away?

Has someone told him he is a naughty boy?

He is 3 years old, and has been fairly challenging (understatement!) We try really hard not to say naughty boy - rather "throwing is naughty" or to be honest I try not to even use it very much. But I have probably said it in the heat of the moment - esp when he has been particularly challenging!

The thing is when I tell him he is not a naughty boy, he disagrees with me!

I was wondering if someone else had said he was naughty - maybe a neighbour, babysitter, grandparent, someone at nursery - perhaps when you weren't there. Would he be able to tell you if that was the case?

I think you're absolutely right to criticise the behaviour rather calling your DS naughty.

How does he seem to feel about being a 'naughty boy'? If he's proud of it, I suppose you've got to make it clear that being naughty is not cool. If he seems sad, give him big hugs and tell him positively that he really is a good boy and that you love him very much (even though he sometimes does naughty things).

One thing about praise - I wonder if sometimes it can be overused in a bad way so that children feel that we are completely flabbergasted that they have actually done something good. It's important that children feel we expect them to behave well.

He may be compelled to throw, as many children are at this age. Instead of saying throwing is naughty, perhaps allow him to throw something at a target. Give him a soft ball or a beanbag and a bucket to aim into as well as a place to do it.

He may be compelled to throw, as many children are at this age. Instead of saying throwing is naughty, perhaps allow him to throw something at a target. Give him a soft ball or a beanbag and a bucket to aim into as well as a place to do it.