Crying wolf

[Backinthebox]

My 3.7 yo DD screams like she is being stabbed for very little reason at all. Today, for example, she screamed the house down because Gigglebiz was on the TV (and while I can understand her sentiment, I do not sympathise with her response,) which woke up 6mo DS from his much needed nap. While I was calming suddenly-woken DS down with a BF she screamed outside about a stray chicken. Obviously I sprinted outside, abandoning DS wailing on the bed, only to find she was mildly miffed about a hen that was eating grass in her wendy house garden. Later she had a mental hissy fit about running out of squash in her cup.

How on earth do I teach her that she mustn't scream like that? I can't ignore her - any manner of things could have happened to her, especially if she is outside. We have a huge garden, and a little house, and I like the idea of her being able to enjoy the big outdoors but her screams are shredding my nerves and I can't ignore them, just in case! But even when she is inside she screams for something as minor as wanting a snack.

I am not slack as discipline, but these screams are proving difficult to deal with. Any suggestions?

Can you explain the story of the little boy who called wolf? TBH, I doubt it, our DD is nearly 10 and has only just accepted that one day the school nurse won't believe her complaints and it will be the occassion that something really is wrong.
Not much use am I?

I do sympathise - DS1 (now 4) went through a phase of doing this for all manner of trivial reasons, and the only way I could cope with it was to threaten him with no TV (the ultimate sanction) if he did it again. It took a while but he now rarely does it, although he does still throw tantrums if he doesn't get his way.

Do you think that your DD is crying wolf to get your attention because she's jealous of the attention you give to her brother? If so, it might be worth trying to give her some one-to-one time (while reading her the story of the boy who cried wolf, as kreecher suggested).