I can't help getting angry with my 4.5 year old dd. She just seems so emotional all the time. Her only way to deal with a situation is to cry, wail and generally scream.
I wouldn't mind if she had a genuine reason, but the volume and "dramaticness" of her cries hardly ever matches the problem.
For example this morning her curtain fell down when she tried to open them- I was busy getting dressed and heard her start to cry from the room next door, after a second or too the screaming got very loud and piercing and I rushed in, imagining a scene of carnage, only find dd lying on the bed face down yelling and nothing else untoward except the fallen curtains. Why didn't she just come and say "mummy, my curtains have fallen down" ?
These dramatic incidents occur at least once a day, and at school. it's not just the dramatic ones either, other small things lead to bouts of tears that other kids just seem to deal with.
I have really lost patience and sympathy with her this morning and told her that there will be no sweets tonight (her once a week treat). She is now mortified! (lots more wailing and hysterics). I feel silly punishing her for crying but how else can I stop this behaviour- when she is happy she is a very happy, confident child- she seems to just melt when anything goes wrong.