Jade

kimberley wrote: well, my princess is 3 going on 13 and i could use some advice on how to curb the whining and attitude and mischief. she screams at the top of her lungs at a pitch that makes dogs go insane when she doesn't get her way.. especially with her brothers. she is extremely rude lately.. last weekend in the car she asks how long til we get home. Jacob answers, "look Jade, we are almost home". her reply in the snottiest voice i have ever heard... "Jacob, i WASN'T talking to YOU!"

she has been getting up in the night and wreaking havoc. she dumped about 20 cups of rice on K's high chair, painted on the walls, drawn everywhere, took out the eggs and made some crazy concoction on my dining table etc etc. i am not keen on locking her in her room but i am running out of ideas. nothing has really changed so i am not sure where this is coming from or if it's typical phase of a 3yo.

miss thing below (sorry it's from my cell)

amynicole21 replied: With great cuteness comes great aggravation.

Sophia is going through a similar phase. I have really come down on her when she is rude and disrespectful to Dh, me or Nora. She has been spending time in her room and losing treats like bedtime stories and dessert. Not that any of it has had much effect

Sorry, no advice, just commiseration.

lisar replied: Well my best friend has a kid that would get out of bed in the middle of the night and do stupid crazy things like that. She decided to cut his door in half of his room. And lock the bottom half. Only the bottom half. It was still to tall for him to climb it but he couldnt get out. He would stand there and cry and she would wait and see what happens and he would go back to bed after about 5 minutes of knowing he couldnt get out of his room. Now its been about 6 months since she done that and now he doesnt even wake up at night anymore. Worked for her. Its just an option. If your just locking the bottom half it might make you feel better about locking the door. I havent had to deal with anything like this, so I dont know what I would do.

coasterqueen replied: Sorry, I'm no help. I've got a 4 year old and a 2 year old who act the same way. The 2 year old is about 10 times worse than the 4 year old.

DansMom replied: I don't think it gets better---my four year old is a master whiner! And I get that "I wasn't talking to YOU" attitude from him.

I can't believe how big Jade is! I haven't seen a pic in a long time, apparently. Oh, and the long blonde hair---I imagined Jade as brunette for some reason . She's gorgeous, Kimberley Amy is right: with great cuteness comes great aggravation.

CantWait replied: No help here. Anthony is a little terror as well. Aside from taps in the mouth, corner time, giving him things to do, taking things away, and constantly yelling at him, nothing is working. They will grow out of it, right???

BTW she's absolutely gorgeous!!!!

kimberley replied: thanks guys.

you are not giving me much hope tho LOL

MommyToAshley replied: I don't have any additional advice either, but I wanted to chime in on her picture.

OMG>.... she is so beautiful!!! It's been too long since I have seen her picture. It should be illegal to be so darn cute!!!!

Kaitlin'smom replied: OMG is she stunning or what.

I will have to post my response later, I can right now but I will be back. I just had to say how BEAUTIFUL she is just like mommy

Kirstenmumof3 replied: She sounds like Spencer! Spencer didn't hit the "terrible two's" until he was 3! He was constantly overflowing the toilet, but putting the toilet paper in the toilet and watching it spin off the real. He painted the Bathroom wall with my make-up brush and some yogurt. He emptied the entire fridge and dumped his "child proof" anti-biotics all over the floor. I think her behaviour is normal, it's just a phase and she will grow out of it! In the meantime if she does do something like pour rice all over Kayliegh's High Chair, have her clean it up. She may not do the best job, but at least this way you are teaching her some responsibility. As for the screaming, just tell her that you are not going to talk to her if she screams like that, send her to her room and tell her she can come out when she is ready to talk properly. I had to do this with Emily, but then it backfired on me and she would stand at her bedroom window yelling out "Can somebody please help me?" Try not to let her know that what she is doing is bothering you! Good Luck!

CantWait replied: Oh Gosh Kimberley, I think I've said before how these two telepathically speak with eachother.

I just went upstairs to find permanent marker on the walls, the couch, and the oak railing.

gr33n3y3z replied: bc I dont know what to say
but hang in there it cant last forever

kimberley replied:
i feel your pain. don't have more kids or he'll draw on them too poor Kaleigh lol

CantWait replied:
LOL oh I just had to chuckle at that.

Brias3 replied: Gosh, no real advice here, just sympathy because I went through the same thing! Aliyah spent ALOT of time around that age in time-outs, in her room, being reprimanded, etc I feel like I was always right on her back about stuff but eventually, it must have kicked in because she doesn't pull the majority of that behavior regularly anymore. The only thing I would tell you to keep in mind would be to really stick to your word when you announce possible consequences or deliver some sort of reprimand (time out, etc.). DH was lax on things when he was dealing with her and she knew she could always get away with continuing to act like a little stinker with him!

BTW, she is BEAUTIFUL. I really couldn't help but laugh seeing that description of behavior followed by that adorable, angelic little face

Good luck!!

Maddie&EthansMom replied: Sounds like Ethan so it's not just girls. 3's are not going to be easy for us, I can tell.

Jade is GORGEOUS, Kimberley!! That smile! She's grown up so much.

jcc64 replied: First of all, Kimberly, she is too cute- what an infectious smile!
I guess before I chime in with my 2 cents, I'd want to know a little more about her personality. Is she eager to please? Overly concerned with your approval? Empathetic? Because as you know, what works with one kid is useless with another. I used to think I was so on the ball with my oldest, because he was basically a very compliant, rule following, law and order kind of guy. Then I got Noah, who really could care less what I or anyone else thought about anything. He's a rebel to the core, which obviously makes it infinitely more difficult to discipline.

redchief replied: Jade sounds like our Erin did. Noah sounds like our John. Jeanne is right, while there are basic rules for discipline, those have to be tailored to each child, and there will always be that personality that simply doesn't care what you think. Know this, as endless as it seems to be right now, your consistency and her developing maturity will bring positive change, Kimberley. Hang in there!

BTW, Jade is gorgeous.

A&A'smommy replied: She is GORGEOUS!!!!!! I wish I had some advice but I don't know what to tell you!!!

kimberley replied: LOL Bria, butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, eh?

Jeanne, she has definitely reached that "look at me" stage. watching her put together a puzzle for the 30th time in an hour makes it difficult to muster the same enthusiasm as the first few times, but i manage lol. She is very empathetic. that is one thing that is completely different from the boys and amazes me. She has this maternal quality that is so sweet. She was always the affectionate, quiet kid who didn't take to outsiders well until just recently. She has really come out of her shell the past few months. But all the sugar aside, Jade doesn't have any problem displaying her autonomy. When she wants something, she certainly lets you know. When you ask her to do something she doesn't want to do, (ie clean a disaster she made), she will ignore you or scream.

i have used time outs and they seem to work some of the time, but it's always short lived. it just bothers me that she already wants to negotiate when asked to do something. what seems effective is telling her she will lose a privilege if she doesn't listen. tho she certainly takes her time complying just so i know she isn't giving in that easy lol. she has no qualms about losing toys because everyone spoils this "angelic" child. she will put them in the trash herself.

you know, how you describe your kids makes me wonder how big a role birth order really does play a role in personality. Jacob, my eldest, is very comliant and James... well, rebel doesn't begin to describe his personality.