OMG!!!!!

[CherryMonster]

dd2 is five and a half, and has gone from being a lovely little girl to being a total evil witch!!! she doesnt listen ever, she screams and shouts and stamps and cries all the bloody time and i am literally at the end of my tether!!!! she spends an hour messing around after going to be, and finding any excuse at all to get up. i have literally had enough, and am living with a constant headache. what on earth am i supposed to do to stop this? dd1 is getting better at behaving, and now dd2 is evil incarnate

take a deep breath:
Sounds like DD2 has watched and learned from DD1 and added her own special spin on the terribles. Poor, poor, poor you.

Assuming she has no developmental issues and bullying/other probs at school/home have been ruled out I would assume that "this too will pass" try to stay consistent and try ( ohh so hard to do) to give attention to the good behaviour not the bad.

Something that worked with my DD5 was descriptive praise..(.ie instead of saying "oh that's great" or "aren't you clever", or "you are brilliant", "I love it" etc.). Say "I notice that you have put your shoes on the first time I asked", "I can see that you have stayed in bed even though you don't want to go to sleep", "I like the way you explained why you are frustrated", "I noticed you said thank you without being reminded" . Children are praise junkies and if they get more praise they want more..we usually give 9 negative comments to every 1 positive with children...to change behaviour we have to turn round the stats and try to give 9 positives! It also helps us to look for the positive 'cos i don't know about you but I quickly descend into the pit of despair and can't see the positive and wonder why we had them at all [embarrassed].

have a hug..

thanks joruth, no, there are no developmental or bullying issues with dd2, although dd1 has suspected aspergers which explains most of her behaviour. i think dd2 is just pushing to see how far she can go. doesnt make it any less exasperating though lol x