I am feeling terrible. It feels like all i do is ask/yell/have a major breakdown just to get her to do ANYTHING! Wether it be to clean her room or to stop hitting her brother(5months old) in the head and to stop taking his toys away from him..
Im at the point were i went into her room and took 75% of her toys and bagged them up into the spare room telling her that she can have them back one bag at a time when she starts to clean her room up when i ask. I dont expect it to be immaculate but i do expect no toys on the floor. I now feel terrible about it but i know if i give them back without her working for them then she will never take me seriously...
I just do not know what to do i am huddled on a ball crying my eyes out amd hubby isnt back for another week and a half (he is fifo)
Any advice would be great thank you and sorry for the novel.
2 Replies
It sounds like you have high expectations of a 3.5 year old. I don't know a single 3-4 year old who doesn't need to be supervised and help to tidy there room. Also if she has a lot of stuff she may not even know where to start.
Make sure you ask her to do things that are realistic and don't take longer than a few minutes. And praise her up when she does the right thing. You catch way more flies with honey. Make sure your giving her one to one time that's positive and fun because then she won't be seeking the negative attention all the time by attacking her brother.
I disagree I think a nearly 4 year old is more then capable of picking up after themselves, especially just basic toys. My kids do and the kids at day care ( I work in a centre) are expected to tidy their own mess unless it's an activity we've set out for them like painting. Carry on with punishment. I do the same if the kids don't put away their toys they get put away! I do think you sometimes need to stand over and watch them and tell them point by point what they need to do as it can overwhelm them. And also make a huge deal if if she does something good xx