WWYD:6 year old dramatic tendencies

[slm21bl]

DD (6) tends to over react when she gets in trouble. DH just yelled at her to sit down cause she was standing on her chair during lunch. Ok, no big deal. Sit down and don't do it again. Oh no! She will start whining and cower like we are going to beat her (which we would never do). She does the whine thing while I will be trying to correct her. Then I will about flip out because I know she is not listening to me. I have tried to just ignore her and let her go about pouting. But it drives me insane! Anyone else have children like this? And how do I make her stop? She is usually very well behaved. This is really our only problem with her. I just wish she would "say ok mommy" and it be over with.

[hedgewitch]

My ds is only 3.5 but he does the over reaction/whining thing about 150 times a day It irritates me massively but I am trying to let him know that it doesn't really help him. If he shrieks I will often say "are you bleeding?" or "are you physically hurt?" If the answer is no I ask him to speak to me in a level way. I often tell him that I can't understand him because of his voice being whiney - which is actually true!

We are doing a lot of modeling which is really starting to pay off. When he whines I will 'rephrase' for him in as calm a voice as I can "Do you mean to say - Mummy please help me?" Then he will copy my words and my tone. We are also teaching him phrases like "Excuse me" and I'm really careful to play close attention when he uses them.

I can't say that I don't lose my temper when he wears me down over the course of a day, eventually we all crack! But I do find the calmer I am and the more I model calmness (doesn't come naturally!) the more calm he is. Perhaps you can create a 'code' for your daughter so that she can let you know when something is very important and likewise you can let her know she is getting on your nerves. Then you can follow up with a set of actions. At her age I think you should be able to explain to her how upsetting her actions are when she pretends to feel unsafe.

I'm sure lots of others will have better advice I just wanted to reply!

[Devaskyla]

Sounds like ds1, only add in "I'm so dumb" when given advice & the constant apologizing with no follow through. Wish I knew what to do about it.

[meemee]

*sigh* i really feel lost in the world of parenting.

i thought after 3 parenting was going to be a breeze till the teens.

i am still waiting for the breeze.

life is really tough in the world of the 5 and 6 year olds. esp. if they are in school.

they are out in the big bad world and are discovering that it indeed is the big bad world out there. even at preschool there was a lot of fun. the world evolved around them. they got a booboo and everyone gave them a hug and a kiss and even a band aid on the owie where the skin had not been broken.

yeah i have a drama queen too who treats my yelling as if i had spanked her with a whip. she was so upset that i yelled at her a lot, that we made a chart to keep track of my yelling. and she discovered that i yelled maybe once a week or once in two weeks (yelling in her world is also stopping her from doing something).

i think coming from us for them it is like 'et tu brutus?' the world is bad and we join hands with teh world.

yeah so i see my dd going thru all of that. being mad and sad with me when i explained to her that she has to stop running inside the laundromat because it wasnt safe. suddenly there are rules, rules, rules everywhere. and people's expectations of good behaviour go up at this age. you are school age - old enough to know better.

so when i watch my dd overreact, it truly fills me with compassion. for the hard life they are leading and all the lessons they are learning and the limits and yes's and no's.

i look upon the process as her way of figuring out life and once this is over there will be something new to figure out.

[Eliseatthebeach]

It's just a personality trait. I have one like that too. She is very creative. Way way way high on drama, who knows....maybe on Oscar is in her future, lol!

[MPsSweetie]

I am so there.... In fact, today is a bad day. I am reeeaaaallly needing a sugar-free day, aka break from the kids.

[hottmama]

My 6 yr. old is very dramatic and will sob and cry, "I feel like you hate me!" or "You don't love me!" He cries about almost everything, probably 12 times a day he is crying. He is Mr. Drama-rama. I can't remember when it started but it's been a while.