I could scream. DD (4.5) is reaaaally testing my patience...

[varyingdegreesofdeafness]

... and I know this has been mentioned loads of time before by m'netters and for those that read this and sympathise, there'll be loads reading it and cackling fondly at being reminded of those days (in time i shall too ), but, good lord, my dd is driving me round the bloody bend.

Partially I know she's tired, even though she has blackout lining on her curtains her room is light early on a morning. She has a bedtime of about 7 when I can tell she is tired, any earlier and she isn't sleepy and will potter about and end up staying up later, or later than seven and she is even more tired...

So, I'm trying to ignore what could be due to tiredness, constantly thinking back to Toddler Taming (pick your battles, try to praise the positive and ignore the negative etc) but she can be horrendous! She will shout at me when she disagrees with something, usually she just did this with her dad and he is pants at trying to discipline her because he mollycoddles her! But now she's started with me, although I immediately tell her not to speak to me that way and then recognise and acknowledge when she speaks politely or nicely. Loads of stuff will set her off in tears, she squabbles over so much stuff with her younger sister running after her to grab her and snatch back stuff she wants.

All this sounds trivial and pointless but I am soooo tired and fed up of it! It's like I'm not enjoying moost of the time with dcs because of her!

arrrrrrrggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Rant. Over. For now

and i've decided to grow my hair out so i look like a right berk. That's not helping either!!

My Ds is about the same age and he exhibits similar behaviour. He can be very rude and his favourite word is NO, he is very demanding but I have a lot of patience, more than DH who is always shouting at him but this makes things worse. I strongly believe that he is attention seeking and I ignore (mostly) tha bad behaviour and then he is not getting the reaction he wants. When he asks nicely and has P's and Q's I engage with him

I am told he will grow out of it...

Yes I sympathise with you varyingdegreesofdeafness for I have a DD2 just turned 4 who is exactly the same! I have been reading the support group for 3 year olds thread with interest and it cheers me up so much to know that i'm not suffering alone. I never had the terrible twos with either of my DDs but 3 and 4 were pretty much tears and tantrums.....that rhyme sums it up for me 'when she was good she was very good and when she was bad she was horrid'! It doesnt last forever but its hard to see that when your in the middle of it all :(

I also have a DD who fits the "little girl with a curl" rhyme - she even has the curls! She can be brilliant, and is most of the time, but sometimes, just sometimes...

I used to wail and gnash my feet over it, but now I try and remind myself each evening of three lovely things she has said or done that day and it makes me feel better about the day, rather than focussing on the negatives.

put her to bed at 630 with a story and a song, I had to do this with ds's they were over tired and grumpy they are 5 and six now, go to bed at 7 and are normaly asleep by half past, we use motzart for babies as a soother after their story works a treat,