Please help! DD is 4.5 and will start school in a couple of weeks. I also have DS who is just over 2.
DD has never been great at amusing herself and these holidays I seem to be knocking myself out to provide activities which have to flow seamlessly into each other. If there is a break in continuity (eg. for me to tidy up, make drinks, answer phone) she seems to switch into this default mode of behaviour which is driving me mad, but she seems to think is quite cute! She will summon DS to go upstairs where they will strip her (double) bed right down to the mattress and jump up and down. They will open all her drawers and throw her clothes down the stairs. She will say they are playing "Time for bed" but it's just an excuse to get all her soft toys and throw them into her bed as well....and then jump on it.
I've explained to her why I dislike these activities...but they just happen over and over again. She says "I'm sorry, mummy" but obviously doesn't care one jot.
Today we have alse upped the ante as she has bitten DS really hard on his back whilst I was upstairs and then she tipped a bucket of water out of the bath all over the floor.
I'm frustrated because she is a bright little girl but will only "perform" if she is being played with by me. I've put a halt to the bath antics by removing anything bucket-like (there's a definite FNAR in that sentence, but feel this isn't the time nor the place ) and I also try and warn before leaving them in a room alone together for more than 2 minutes so that they know where I am going and what is expected of them in terms of behaviour. This does seem to help a little.
How can I stop this behaviour? Is it peculiar to her or more commonplace than I think? How do you deal with it? I haven't got a huge arsenal of disciplinary weapons apart from my "cross voice" and sending outside to think about what has been done wrong and then apologising for it...do I need to be doing something more?
Any suggestions would be gratefully received, thank you.
Please or to access all these features
Please
or
to access all these features
Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.
Behaviour/development
4.5yo DD -
4 replies
Judd · 22/08/2006 19:38
OP posts:
Please create an account
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.