My 4yo (turning 5 in September) is SO different than I was at that age. She talks to absolutely everyone. I love that she is curious and outgoing but there are times when it's not appropriate and try as I might to explain it to her, she seems incapable of stopping. For instance, we are moving in a few weeks so there was a rep from the moving company here yesterday to look through every nook and cranny of our house to do an estimate. We kept Olivia occupied upstairs for a while but eventually the rep had to come upstairs and when she did, Olivia was just glued to her, asking her question after question and showing her pictures and stuff. The lady was quite nice about it and didn't seem too bothered. But Olivia was obviously taking up her time and even though I tried to explain that the lady was working, Olivia totally ignored me and just kept talking. This is just a small example. She will talk to every clerk in every store, post office, business, restaurant, you name it and I just can't seem to make her understand that sometimes people are busy and we need to just move on. I also find that in public, she seems to listen to me less than she does at home. It's like she has a switch that she can flip to totally tune me out when we are out and about and I don't know how to go about fixing that. Any ideas? I did get a cartoon video about strangers so she is starting to get the idea not to talk to strangers but she still doesn't really seem to get it. It is so strange to be a relatively shy and private person and have this child so completely the opposite!
I suspect the best idea is to embrace her personality. Trying to change it will frustrate and hurt you both.
Or do you mean -- is she normal? Yes - she sounds normal.
I work retail, and maybe I'm a flake -- but I LOVE when people's kids talk to me while I'm working. I will drop EVERYTHING to answer a child's questions, and bright sunny smiles and comments from children is absolutely what keeps me going. She is very likely a bright spot in many lives on a daily basis.
I agree, she is normal and sounds like a wonderful kid!
I talk to anyone and everyone when we're out so maybe I'm not completely normal though :LOL I want DD to learn how to be social with people and make small talk, etc. Plus I just like to talk. hehe. This is off topic, but in this culture where everyone has a cell phone talking on it and ignoring their children and other people around them... it's nice to see your DD sees the value in chatting and asking questions of people.
Thank you very much for your replies, I am feeling better about it. I guess I have a couple of concerns. First that she will come across as an easy mark if we come in contact with any shady character...I've tried to teach her (without traumatizing) that some strangers don't have the best of intentions and second that there are people who just don't value children and will hurt her feelings by saying something rude (she is really sensitive). So far we've had people who looked at her and turned away and ignored her at which point I pass it off to dd that the person was too busy too talk and occasionally when she tries talking to older kids that might be just walking past the house or whatever the might make a snarky reply. I guess I'm afraid that one of these days someone will say something really hurtful and she'll be crushed.
I do agree that she has an amazing personality and the people that do love children have a fantastic time chatting with her. I guess I'm still trying to cope with how different she is from me.
My dd is the same way (I see they're near the same age, too). She's still learning on what's appropriate and not. The only thing I have found is that it helps to talk to her about something before it happens. I.e. yesterday we went to the chiropractor, and I explained to her on the way that she could ask lots of questions at first, but then at some point I would ask her to look at the stuff in her bag (books, crayons, paper), and not ask any more questions/talk to the dr until the end of the appointment. He was v. good-natured about explaining what he was doing to her, and that allowed me to still get to talk to him. :LOL Like you, I'm more shy and not as talkative - it is a difference to get used to!
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