I LOVE my 5 yo!

[Ellien C]

She is great company. She is interesting, she is polite, she is articulate, she is pretty joyful to be around.

That said, she was not so delightful at 3.5, 4 or 4.5 - right on up to 5. She was bossy, manipulative, whiny, obstinate, demanding, defiant. She woke up crying, we took her to school crying, I picked her up crying and she went to bed crying. It was a VERY difficult time. I went to work feeling like I had just come through a war zone. I dragged her kicking and screaming on a few occasions. ONCE, I even smacked her bottom.

But she is really a pleasure now - imaginative, interesting, learning and putting the world together. I really like spending time with her now.

I didn't for awhile.

I just thought I would post that to give some parents of younger children some hope. Maybe I should have put in the Toddler forum.

[trebleme]

Many blessings, mama, for writing that because I truly needed to hear it tonight.

: to you

Sharon

[cuttiebearmom]

What a gift for you to have this new relationship with her, obviously you were doing lots of things right for her to come through a hard time so well adjusted and ready to embrace the world.

It really is so true that each age is filled with different challenges. Try to remember that blissful 5 year old when she is 16 and arguing about not being able to use the car, hehehe.

[ljc]

thanks for posting. some days i think my soon to be 5 year old son will be a challenge for the rest of his years. other days i can see glimpses of a mature, thoughtful, smart, and caring boy.

[HarperRose]

Same story here! Mine is going to be 7 this weekend. We've had a MUCH better relationship in the last year.

[OakBerry]

That's great to hear.

My child seems to be going in reverse though, he's getting more difficult, obstinate and miserable as he gets older. He was an "average" baby and a sweet toddler. Now he is 6 and it pains me to admit that I don't like being around him lately.

[AutumnMama]

From a Mama with a very difficult 4.5 year old: THANK YOU!
I remember DD getting easier around that age, but she was never as spirited as DS is. I feel like banging my head against the wall frequently

[lovemyfamily6]

Originally Posted by OakBerry

That's great to hear.

My child seems to be going in reverse though, he's getting more difficult, obstinate and miserable as he gets older. He was an "average" baby and a sweet toddler. Now he is 6 and it pains me to admit that I don't like being around him lately.

Same here. Our 5y4m twins are so HARD!! Dh and I have been talking every day lately about how difficult they are. Our just turned 7 year old has matured so much (although he was a really easy baby/toddler/preschooler) and we get along so well.

The twins seem to thrive on doing exactly the opposite of what we say. They're rude (blowing raspberries and laughing at us as they're ignoring us), disrespectful (intentionally damaging art and other projects from each other and their big brother, damaging toys on purpose), and have terrible listening skills at home. At preschool, they are angels and always have been. When we're out in public, they're great and very well behaved. At home though, things basically suck. We aren't enjoying parenting them right now or for the last almost two years. It's really kind of depressing. We try so hard to be positive and gentle and all that, but we're not seeing any fruits of our labor and I feel like we're about done. I'm not fond of timeouts, but we can't go on like this. We had one good month right when they turned 5. Things were really great, then it's like demons possessed them or something. I wake up every single day feeling refreshed and ready for a new day. And every day by 3:30 I want to scream and pull my hair out. We're pretty much at a loss here.