too much to ask of three yo?

[~*Guest]

today at the park my three year old dd kept running away to go check other things out. i was at the playground with dd2 and dd1 ran off to go look at something else. i called after her, and she didn't hear me, or ignored me and kept going. so i got up and went after her. when i caught up with her, i talked to her about how it is dangerous to run off without me, and how she needs to ask me if she can go somewhere before she runs off. she says "ok". then about 10 minutes later i am playing with dd2 again, and she runs off again to go look at the flowers. i holler after her, "stop, you need to come back here and tell me where you are going. if you don't stop we will go home, running away is dangerous!" she keeps running off. so i go get her, and we walk to the car and go home. she was okay with that. do you think it is too much to ask of an impulsive three year old to not run away the second they see something of interest? i really didn't feel like leaving the park, because we had only been there for 25minutes, but i guess i was angry at her, and wanted to "prove my point". i was pretty ineffective at it, because she didn't even care that we had to go. as i am writing this, i am realizing that both times she ran away when i was giving her little sister attention. aha! any suggestions of how i could have handled this better? thanks.

[hippymomma69]

I don't think it's too much to ask but i think you answered your own question there at the end...if the underlying message is "I'm bored" then I think you should see her running off as a message that you need to pay attention to her. Maybe instead of making an issue of the running off, when she leaves, you should immediately switch to a game or activity of her chosing (maybe sling DD2 so you have your hands free?)....?

hth
peace,
robyn

[chfriend]

Oh man, that couple of months when the littler one is first getting mobile are tricky. Is the little one wanting down at the park or happy in a baby carry while you fool around with the 3 year old?

[elizawill]

i have a couple of ideas. 1) you can bring toys to the park with you to help entertain her, as well as a snack and drink. 2) is there a park you can go to that is enclosed? the park i frequent is gated. is this a possibility??

anyway, just a thought.