Adolescent 3.5 yrs old

[mellymell]

i suspect I will be told that my ds is still only young and he'll grow out of it, but I reckon adolescence has come early in my household and it's becoming an issue.

The eldest Son is happy and jolly and generally will do anything to please, especially if there are stickers involved.

My second son likes to stir things up. For example, Even though I know he likes a cuddle, at story time, he will be very disruptive, will shout and whine until I lose patience with his behaviour and make him sit outside until he has calmed and is prepared to come back in. I did this 3 times tonight until story time was over. He then cried himself to sleep because he didn't get a story At other times, if he being disruptive, he will be asked to behave, otherwise he will have to sit on the stairs. He will chose to sit on the stairs.

Stickers hold no allure. I know he is considered an angel at school, but after a hard day at work, all I want to do is have a lovely time with both boys. I'm sure it's just attention seeking, but it is very unloveable.

Any suggestions to encourage better behaviour?

When you do storytime, do you read to both boys at the same time?

Yes - maybe there lies the problem if he doesn't like the books we're reading, although I always ask them for their own choices. Yesterday, he complained about the book, but when asked whether he'd like another one, just said he couldnt' find one. agh - patience - must remember to get some more in. sigh.

Remember they are called threenagers for a reason. It's a difficult time for them because they don't often have the vocabulary to express how they feel adequately and this can often lead to a melt down.

One brilliant tip I have learned is to give a choice of two things. Example, if you want him to go upstairs say " Are you going to run or walk up the stairs?"

" Are you going to have this toy or that one in the bath?"

Choose two stories you know he likes and ask "Do you want this story or the other one?"

You still get him to do what you want but he feels he has some control over the choice. It has worked really well with my younger two. Ds2 is 3.5 so I feel your pain. :)

I use that tatic on DH . As in, do you want to bath DS or do the washing up and not sit on your arse while I run around doing everything? Sounds like a very good tip TheOne.

melly do you think he needs some time with you alone? Could you do individual storytimes and take him to the library to chose his own books?