Four years old going on fourteen

Oh yeah, it's a continuing rollercoaster!

You have some personal upheaval going on too, right? That often has a real effect, unfortunately.

The mimicking must be tough! I only had to deal with one at a time, and that was plenty.

My kid was 3.5 when we moved and she was a little snot for quite a while after that. Some combination of age and upheaval did not work out well for her.

There's an ages and stages series that I can't remember enough about right now to find via Google, JPB recommended it to me and I found it very helpful!

I got through that phase with tons of patience (so much patience, I'm amazed I have any left) and devastating consistency. Inconsistency seemed to really cause problems.

And lots of attention and reassurance. Something about the realization that not everything is permanent, at that age, really threw her for a loop.

Yes, there are some personal things going on, but we have been doing our best with communication and doing everything in our power to keep it away from the kids.

I've googled about this several times, but aside from complaints, I didn't find much advice.

We leave in a week for a 14 hour drive to TN and I am hoping that she isn't whining and not listening the entire time... I swear I will be a bald woman when we return, if that is the case!!!!

Btw when did it start to get better with your daughter?

OK, found the series:

http://www.amazon.com/Your-Four-Year-Old-Ames/dp/0440506751

Here are screenshots of the first and third pages (can't copy and paste the text):





I think it took her about 6 months -- starting preschool in the fall helped, but it wasn't until a few months into it that she was on an even keel again.

I highly recommend this series on ages and stages. It won't make a four year anything but a four year old but it will set your mind at ease where you can see her behaviors as normal developmental behaviors. I started reading them when Kim was three. I thought it was written specifically for her. She had some struggles (she was extremely three, then four, etc.), but knowing that she was tracking as she should helped me tremendously.


Good luck! Just remember that this too shall pass.

thank you both for recommending the series, I will def. take a look at it. The excerpt seems promising!!!

Besides, if it doesn't get any better, I am going to make a woman cave in the basement and hide!

Heh heh....wait until she hits school and has a whole new culture to look down at you from!

I keep thinking that I am going to have two teenage girls someday and I remember myself as a teenager... if history repeats itself, I am screwed!!

Nope. You and they will both be fine so long as you never forget that you were once there as well.

Yes but it DOES pass