What is my 4 year old trying to tell me? She is pushing all the boundaries this week (in a cheeky, rather than distressed way), and keeps setting herself up for inevitable disappointment, like insisting that she wants to take seven different cuddly animals and four books on a 5 minute bus journey where I’ll have to carry groceries back. Then I say that’s impossible but she can put one in my backpack, which leads to wailing and she bemoans the fact that we’re “not kind”.
I feel like she’s somehow looking for a connection, but I’ve been connecting with her all day! Reading, board games, she’s been helping me with chores etc.
I think it’s a normal-for-a-4yo sort of thing and probably a passing phase but I wish I understood the psychology behind it. Any ideas?