Would you worry about this behaviour in a 5yo? Obsessed with 'bad' things!

[Tinkjon]

DD is starting to concern me a bit. When we watch films she isn't usually scared by the baddies and she seems to positively like them. When she dresses up, she prefers to dress up as the wicked witch, not the princess. She draws pictures in black or brown because she says they are "wicked colours" and she's always drawing pictures of wicked witches. I bought her a water pistol and she said she was going to pretend it was a gun so she could shoot people. Just now she watched a programme with witches cackling and instead of being scared she laughed and declared them funny. That's just a few examples. I used to think nothing of it, I thought it was just another phase and that she was experimenting with right and wrong and so on... but now I'm starting to worry a bit.

Be honest - do you think I'm going to be interviewed on TV in 30 years time, as the mother of a serial killer?!?!

tis ok, I will be on the same show.

my DS2 is obsessed with finding dead insects/mice (our garden seems to have at least one dead mouse a week, damn cats!), and each time CSI's it.

he likes pretending to 'kill' me with his lego guns......((have lost the will to stop him having guns, he makes them out of lego/sticks all the time anyway)), and then obsesses about being a monster and jumping out to scare me.

it must be their age......(he was 6 least week)

My ds has always been exactly the same; always liked the baddies, identified with them, dressing up as them etc. This is since early toddlerhood and he's 6 now.

I think it is alot to do with control - they take on the baddie persona because if THEY are the baddie, nothing can really be too scary because THEY are not really bad. It keeps the whole idea under control for them IMO

Also baddies are often the more striking looking and the more 'extreme' in behaviour - and kids like that!

My ds is kind and sweet and I'm sure your kids are the same - the baddie stuff doesn't mean anything

LOL at "CSI's it"!

That's such a relief, thanks! We can sell our stories together then - "we had no idea, they were always such kind children...".

Honoria, that's a really good point about baddies being more striking.

We're going to Disneyland in October and I just know she's going to be the only one chasing the baddies around

baddies are much more fun.

I think that's great - when her class dresses up there will be 20 fairy princesses but everyone will remember your dd's witch costume or whatever. I'm all for kids who don't mind standing out.

My ds is all into the dark side as well. He recently went to a craft club and insisted on painting all the lovely pink fabric flowers black. He said they had to be poisonous. Better out than in when it comes to our darker sides, imo....

Oh, and forgot to say, when he draws people he always adds some red and blue over the top for the blood and veins....

Elephantjuice, LOL at the poisoned flowers! Thanks, you're all making me feel like I'm not bringing up Britain's Most Wanted after all