6 year old monster

[NorthernGobshite]

I feel so exhausted by dd (6) at the moment and I just don't know how to make things better.

She doesn't listen, she is moody, she doesan't do whats she's told, she is stroppy.. she is usually such a delightful, lovely girl but every few months we have a few weeks of this behaviour and it truly exhausts me. She was so stroppy this morning and I am so tired that I wept.

She says sorry and then almost immediately starts being horrid again.

What to do? I feel like a rubbish Mummy at the moment.

i know this sounds trite

but ignore ignore ignore

6 year olds want your attention - don't give it to them, sit yourself donw with a nice brew and start flicking through a magazine, guarenteed in 10 mins that girl will want you for something or to look at something, just tell her that to expect nice things to be done for you, you have to be nice yourself

New to mumsnet and don't know all the jargon and abbreviations yet so bear with me!

my son is 6 and quite temperamental. he also seems to go through phases where he is a nightmare and other stretches of time where he is cooperative and good company. someone told me they have developmental spurts and when they are changing in this way and learning new stuff they often behave obnoxiously. also physical growth spurts I've heard have an effect on their mood.

My son definitely gets into the role of being a 'bad boy' and the more I pull him up about his behaviour the more deeply he digs his heels in and is sulky. I've found that pouncing on the first available bit of cooperation and giving loads of praise and attention to it can give him the chance to become the good boy again, a position he is happier in. and asking for lots of help with things he likes helping with (sprinkling cheese on a pizza etc) and then being really grateful to him can remind him of how nice it feels to be 'good', or friends etc. this seems to help him break the cycle.

my dd been like this for about 18 months. she is also 6

Thanks all. Am doing some excellent ignoring and seems to be working. Also trying to bite tongue rather than react to everything as it just perpetuates/escalates situation.
Think half problem is that she's worn out....roll on half term.