Do 4-y-old girls suddenly turn into teenagers?

[octocompass]

My dd, who's 4 and a bit, has never been a placid child, but just in the last few weeks the outbursts have been accompanied by dreadful teenage-like expressions, e.g. 'I'm fed up with you, go away!', 'Leave me alone!', 'I hate you!' And she says them with a real scowl on her face.

I'm a bit shocked and upset by it. If it's this bad at 4, what will she be like at 14?! Or is this just par for the course? I was really hoping her somewhat trying 3-year-old self would have settled down by now, but it seems the opposite is happening. And what should I do when she does this? Should I just ignore? If I say something like 'That's not a nice way to talk to mummy', she just carries on.

Watching with interest... DD turned 4 last month and has started answering back, arguing and being generally cheeky. Today she told me "I've had enough of you" (clearly things I've said to her sometimes )

I can't cope with another 12 years of it

Don't panic - I had similar with both my sons, but at 6. I remember thinking just that. Ignore as best you can - she's testing you and trying to get a rise out of you. It lasted a few months in my case and then they went back to normal

Also watching this thread. DD has also discovered my make up bag, getting dressed and putting acessories on in front of the mirror and gazing at herself for ages.

She liked Thomas the Tank at 3 it is such an ubrupt change.

Sounds like my first daughter...the only thing that worked for us was a calm "you mustn't speak to me/anybody like that" and then walk out of the room/ turn away/disengage and ignore until she speaks to you in a reasonable/respectful way. Like all things it will pass...and then there'll be something else to worry about!!..perhaps if you win the battle here you'll miss some of the teenage stuff ( that's what I keep telling myself anyway!

oh my god i don´t know about girls but my ds is showing signs of this too and he HAS always been a placid and very pleasant child. scary. I mostly ignore if its general moaning but we´re cracking down on him being rude/cheeky before it gets out of hand. We give him 2 warnings (clearly repeated) then a small sanction (no cartoon x before bed, he gets 2 cartoons so he still has another to watch/lose) this is enough for him at the moment.

Mine has.

Don't have any advice to give though as have not found a way to deal with it yet. Think it's quite normal, something to do with testing the boundaries; at least I hope it's quite normal otherwise we're in trouble in 10 years time....

Oh yes - with eye rolling, "you're so stupid" stuff. I ignore a lot and tell her when she is not being polite. Generally dd is much better now at 7. She asks lots of questions so there more opportunity for "bonding" and girly chats. The strops, when they come, are no better though....

They are testing you, is all.

Funnily enough my DD is 4 tomorrow and she keeps displaying behaviour like this recently.

She keeps saying things like, "oh man!" and "well good" and she says "ER..." in a teacherlike manner (as if to say "er, what do you think you're doing?" sort of thing)

I don't know where she's got some of her phrases from, pre-school I guess!

Oh yes, and I dropped a crumb the other day and she said, "tsk - look you're dropping all your dinner you tramp!" I was gobsmacked .

WanderingSheep, thanks for the solidarity, but 'oh man' seems almost charming in comparison to mine :) 'You tramp' kind of redresses the balance, though. I like your dd's retro turn of phrase!

I also wonder where they come from. To be honest, I do often say things like 'I'm fed up with your untidiness' etc, but never 'I'm fed up with you', or 'I hate you' or anything like that.
'

LOL at WanderingSheep's cheeky DD

Mine is starting early with this, not even THREE yet and I get "it's disgusting", "it's SOOO BORING" and "you're a bossy boiler" - I know the culprit too Peppa bloody Pig and Thomas the sodding Train!

oh yes, peppa has a lot to answer for - we get YUCK! and SOOOOO BOOOOORING! lots too.

We have door slamming too when she is mad and stomps off.to her room! I cringe when she says things that I know she has only got from me. Complete with hands on hips