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at a loss with naughty 8 year old

10 replies

rey · 13/05/2008 21:23

should change my name but i am exhausted after another bad evening with our 8 year old who just will not do as she is told, she goes in phases and we seem to have hit a bad one again, I can't see a pattern or reason for it thought I could make up loads of excuses but we are not STRICT disciplinarians, we give and take and treat and promise and tell her when we she will miss out on a treat and stick to it no matter how it pains us and still we seem to reach a stage where nothing works nothing at all and I end up getting so cross I feel like lashing out but I don't I never could and it wouldn't solve anything. Please someone out there wave a magic wand in my direction or better still tell me what worked for you PLEASE I'm so upset I'm switching off for now but I had to turn to MN first.

OP posts:
rey · 13/05/2008 21:24

should read though I could make up loads of excuses not thought.

OP posts:
rey · 14/05/2008 13:40

Probably just as well no response I feel inferior as a mum enough already

OP posts:
booblies · 14/05/2008 13:52

Hi just read your post and had to respond.

First of all don't be so harsh on yourself,

ALL children are naughty at times (despite

what other mums sometimes claim ).

Can you explain what kind of things she does

to misbehave, also how long has it been

going on for ?, is it fairly recent or has

there always been difficulties ?

onwardandupward · 14/05/2008 13:59

I'll be the first to jump in with the Alfie Kohn "Unconditional Parenting" recommendation

rey · 14/05/2008 14:21

Onward Thanks, I'll look up the book you recommend thanks.
Booblies and anyone else interested thanks for taking the time, she has phases I struggle to find a reason but she isn't like this all the time but when she is she is an absolute nightmare and will not do anything she is asked to do or told for that matter. I have had a treat (a comic she likes) hanging around for a week now and haven't been able to give it to her because she is rude, horrible, picky and downright out of control. She tried to control things like wont eat because others are eating things she doesn't like at the table so I say fine dinner goes in the bin you go to bed hungry eventually she eats something no dessert sometimes dessert is before dinner so I am not punishing her with/without food treats. Her dad is too soft so eventually I have to set in when I have decided to see how he handles her but she like last night just got so bad I expected her to eventually hurt herself and couldn't bear it but she didn't but it was very late and she should have done as she was told 2 hours earlier. When I went up and told her seriously no brownies disco next week if she didn't go to be right now she went off and just jumped on her bed laughing. So of course the disco is off and no way is she going. This morning I reminded her and told her so behave now otherwise you will not go to your friends party either which is next week. How on earth can she be so so so so naughty she just upsets the whole house we have tried ignoring her but she just gets in your face deliberately and we have tried keeping a check on her diet in case it's food related but nothing. This has been going on for years on and off she has got better in that it's quite some time since she got this bad but I can't bear it it just upsets us all so much and dh and I start at each other out of the ears of the children when they are asleep.

Sorry this is so long if you are still reading big thank you.

OP posts:
dylsmum1998 · 14/05/2008 14:39

rey no practical help, just sympathy my ds is 9 and exactly the same.
i dont have a dp to argue over things with later so dont have that side of your worries.
if i try talking to friends about his behaviour they suggest smacking him. i do not want to do this

so you are not alone although sorry have no practical advice

cory · 14/05/2008 14:46

I would cut down on the threats if I were you. All it tells her is that you are afraid that she won't comply- so you're handing her weapons. Also, incidentally, you're probably frightening her; children find it scary if their parents are afraid of losing control.

Your default position must be that you are in control. That you are the grown-up, the person with the experience, the credit card etc. So you don't need to prove that. Just tell her calmly that it's bedtime, and if she won't comply lead her calmly upstairs (if at all physically possible). If she won't eat, don't say dramatically 'your dinner will go in the bin', just ignore her- and her dinner will go in the bin. If she is obviously silly- like controlling what others eat- can't you all just laugh at her?

My advice would also be, never move goalposts. If you have said 'no treat unless you do X', then you can't withdraw the treat if she does X but does it in a manner you don't like (defiantly, laughingly etc). Otherwise it just becomes a power struggle, where she thinks you're just giving her orders to check if you're in control.

I would not have punishments that take over a week before they come into effect, anyway (like no party next week if you misbehave tonight). This means a week of the two of you being on bad terms, which means she can think up further naughtiness which you then have to punish...it can go on forever. Not good for family harmony. Any punishment should happen quickly. I think confiscating something and keeping it away for a week is ok, then the initial anger happens straightaway and they will hopefully have forgiven you by the next day.

In our house we have a rule that we won't let the sun go down on our anger. In other words, however badly somebody has behaved and however furious we have been, by the next morning we start again. (This goes for me and dh as well). The idea of starting a new day by reminding dd that she's potentially naughty seems dangerous to me. Once she's started thinking of herself as somebody who's more likely to be bad than good, then her motivation for being good won't be very strong.

I know we rant a lot on MN and that's fine, but when you seem to suggest you haven't seen anything positive about your dd for a week that seems terribly sad. Are you sure you've been looking properly? I would start emphasising the good things about her very strongly if I were you.

Finally, it seems very important that you and your dh do not undermine each other. When you say, you waited to see how dh would handle it before you set in- does that mean you're not deciding together on matters of discipline? I think you need to sit down to a long talk where you both listen to each other.

NolsS · 14/05/2008 14:49

Hi Rey, I found this woman very helpful with my daughter who is 8 and is now the light of my life again... didn't think I would say that a year ago! Her name is Sally Muir at confident-kids.com. I found her help very easy to follow and extremely good. Best of luck.

booblies · 14/05/2008 14:56

Hmm I really feel for you this sounds tough. Can you tell me what kind of routine she has ? Does she get enough sleep at night because that can turn children into

monsters !. She is old enough to know her

behaviour is unacceptable so how about

having a family conversation (everyone) and

talking about rules that everyone should

follow (talking nicely, no shouting etc) and

trying to set up a reward chart. It sounds

like she gets lots of attention from

behaving badly so try to give her lots of

praise if she does something well. The food

thing is a nightmare but make a fuss of how

well behaved the others are at the table

and calmly put her food to one side if she

is refusing to eat. Pick your battles and

try not to stress about smaller stuff. eg

if she is being rude explain that the way

she is talking sounds rude and when she

talks to you nicely you will be very happy

to listen. If all her privileges are taken

away she'll have no reason to behave. I

hope some of this will help .

HonoriaGlossop · 14/05/2008 15:56

I totally agree with every word of cory's excellent post

very wise words there and I'm sure they will help.

I definitely think there's a lot in what cory says about control and your way of dealing with her actually somehow making her feel a LACK of control from you, which as cory says is troubling for a child on a very subconcsious level, and they end up pushing the boundaries...I agree with actually doing less talking and 'threatening' and making less of her silliness; it doesn't mean you don't deal with it, you just deal with it more calmly and end up giving it less attention.

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