Tell me about your 3-4 year old - the best and the worst, please

[lizabird]

I don't want to focus on negative stuff by any means, but my recently-turned-4-yr-old is sometimes driving me nutty. Okay, I love him dearly, but wow can he be challenging. It seems like every time I think about him lately, I first think of the negative things that I don't like. (we've had many a challenging moment lately) So I need reassurance that everyone else's kids are also challenging at times, since, obviously, raising kids is no easy task. But I would also LOVE to hear the funniest and best things that kids do too.

: Worst: ds hasn't taken naps regularly in about a year. So now when he wakes up from a nap, be it a long nap or a short nap, woken up by a parent or wakes up on his own, be is a beast. He screams and cries and NOTHING goes his way upon waking. My solution: try not to let him take a nap.

Best: ds loves me to read to him, almost anytime or anywhere, he can crawl into my lap and snuggle for as long as I can read. He has lots and lots of great attributes, but I think the snuggling and reading together is one of my favorites.

ANyone else want to share?

[ambersrose]

(DD is almost 4 and highly sensitive)

Best: The look on her face when she figures out or learns something new.

Worst: When I look into her eyes and see that she feels frustrated or misunderstood by something I have done or said. I see my own childhood frustration in her eyes and it hurts my heart that she goes through it too.

[LaLaLaLa]

My dd is three and a half, and she is a delight and a challenge.

Our best thing: she loves music, loves to sing. She really likes songs by The Police, as they tend to have very repetitive choruses. "I Love Rock and Roll" is another favorite. She can sing the entire "12 Days of Christmas" song and today asked me to sing "Rudolph" twenty-five times in a row to her so she could pick up the lyrics.

Our worst thing: she tends to shut down when she is upset about something, and responds "no way" over and over to anything we say. It drives me and dh batty. Today in the car:

"Honey, you are getting a bit loud."
"No way."
"Do you see how your brother is trying to sleep?"
"No way."
"It's not polite to be so noisy when he is taking a nap."
"No way."

Etc. Argh.

[MamaHippo]

My DS is 3 and a half.

Best: The joy and exuberance in his face when he's doing something he loves...like the day i peeked into his class ( once-a-week-for-2-hours preschool while I work in the church nursery in the same building), and he was watching his teacher show them how to do the Chicken dance. The joy on his face at seeing something so delightfully silly, and then seeing him trying so earnestly to do it too, made my heart swell.
He LOVES his baby sister, and has a plastic dolly that he pretends is her, and he tucks his doll into his bed and brings her to me to 'nurse'. Every night he asks if DD can sleep with him in his bed that night.

worst: Oh boy. 3 has been a VERY trying year for us. He is in a super-silly mode, and is very into repeating made-up words at the top of his voice all the time. His favorite word is 'FooPoo', which he uses as a replacer noun for everything, and he loves to yell it. Drives DH batty.And he is in a phase of flinging himself onto the floor in high-drama fashion whenever we tell him to do something or ask him to come here. If he gets sent to TimeOut, he will throw himself onto the floor and wail, "You pushed me down/hurt my arm/bumped me/etc!" when we didnt even touch him.
He has precious little impulse control.
HE is very destructive, though not on purpose - he's super curious, but doesnt remember to be gentle, so he breaks things every day - things like daddy's electronics, the spare car door handle DH just bought to fix his old one, my christmas ornaments, dishes, all of my hair clips, and the silk fairy bower over his baby sister's crib ( from Magic Cabin, a gift from nana that cost a LOT- he tore it ). Nothign we do curbs the destruction, but we cant punish him because its not malicious or purposeful, and he's just being curious.
He's very physically rough with me, not understanding the idea that people are not jungle gyms.

I SO hope 4 is better...

[sbgrace]

Best: When they discover or experience something new..and the cuddle reading time too! Watching their imaginations take off. Watching them play together.

Worst: Hysterical Fits. Left and right.
As in: Kid A "I want a cracker"
Me: "ok"
A: "no, I don't want that one"
Me: "ok"
A: "I Do! I Do!" in increasing hysterics.
Enter Kid B: (hmmm...brother is screaming and has the attention...I'll fix that) "I want to play a game."
Me: "let me finish with your brother"
Kid B: "But I want to now, I do"...Screaming fit.
Me: well, I want to scream myself.
Lack of cooperation (silliness sometimes and other times just no for the sake of no). Over sometimes nothing. And we're beasts after naps too. And beasts when we don't get enough sleep. And...sometimes I don't know why. And fighting with each other over everything. Three has been hard (we're four in Feb)

[starlein26]

My son is 4.5

His best attribute: His curiosity

His worst attribute: His curiosity

And no that's not a mistake...

[swellmomma]

ahhh the feircesome fours. You know he was a *perfect* baby and toddler, a month before his 4th birthday WHAM he is a different kid

Worst: the backtalk /attitude. If he mimics me with that sing song voice again when I tell him to stop something I am going to scream. Oi it drives me insane. He also is a screamer when he doesn't get his way, this is worse ater 4 pm when he is very very tired because we stopped naps but I want him to stay up until 7, those are a very long few hours.

BEST. He is such a smart funny boy. He still has baby talk due ot speech delays but says such grown up things it is so cute. His new word is 'actually' today he used it 17 times I am sure. for example: "Hunter time to clean up your toys" his response "actually I am not done with them", of course this spiraled when I repeated to clean them up his response "actually you should clean them up". There was also the conversation in the toy room today "OH NO MOM!" so I say what "I told santa I want a kitchen set but I didn't say a wood one" NOw I know uncle bought him a plastic one. So I say "What if you get a plastic one, then what?" his response :Give it to good will cause actually a wood one is better...right? NO the funny thing about this converstaion is the other day I was looking online at waldorf toys but really 99% of our toys are plastic. While at the goodwill I found a wooden race car for him, and I had bought a wooden dollhouse earlier that day at eh teacher store. He put 2 and 2 together without me saying a word and decided wood toys were better to have, and he wants me to give away all his plastic ones and buy wood ones. LIke I said he is pretty darn smart. Oh and he is independant. I taught him yesterday how to reheat left overs in teh microwave when he wants to have food he saved, by setting the timer for 15 seconds at a time then checking it. HE also makes his own toast, sandwiches and cereal and pours his own drinks. Pretty good in my books.

[wendygrace]

Oh boy I need this thread.

Dd will be four next month.

Worst: She gets in your face and climbs like you're a jungle gym and won't stop. You tell her she's hurting you, her brother, her father and it just doesn't stop. She also does the made up language and its driving me bonkers but the in your face has got to be the worst.

Best: Gee, I'm having such a hard time with her that I had to stop and think. She really can be a sweet kid and she has a great heart. She loves her brother to pieces!

[binxsmom]

best.....talks incessantly and explores everything
worst.....talks incessantly and explores everything

[marzanmama]

Ds is 3.75.

Best: Seeing him learn new things, like today when he matched up a picture of a shoe with the word "shoe." He was so excited!

Worst: Ugh, constantly breaking things! Just like a pp said, he doesn't do it maliciously. Just curious...just needs to be into everything. It really works my nerves.