[corhorvath]

Does anyone have experience with the following?

My 4 yo daughter gets extremely embarrassed if she falls, drops something, or even does something amusing and we laugh. It's not like she hides her head and gets a little blush; she literally curls up in a ball on the floor and tries to "disappear" so no one can see her (in her mind). She also doesn't like to be wrong. She'll say, "oh, yeah. I knew that. I was just kidding." Like if we're counting or making letter sounds, she gets really mad if I correct a mistake. I try to be gentle when correcting, "oh my, you were so close. Try an 'mmm' instead of an 'nnn' next time." But still, she gets mad.

I don't know what to do. I've tried being sympathetic and gentle to help her feel better. I've tried ignoring it. I've tried being stern. It's always the same reaction. I don't mind so much that she's doing it, I just want to teach her how to better cope so she can deal with her emotions better.

She is a perfectionist and she is very determined. One day she told me she just knew she could ride her bike without training wheels, and the next day, she did it. This has happened with tie(ing)?? her shoes, putting her hair in a pony tail, and more. She figures it out and does it. So when she can't do something right, she gets really frustrated and embarrassed. She has a good emotional vocabulary. She'll tell me she's mad, frustrated, sad, etc. But I just don't know what to do about the curling up and trying to disappear.

Any thoughts? TIA

 

[**guest**]

nak

dd, 4, is the same. i posted about 'lying' and making up stories but similar issues r involved.

i try not to correct as much as possible. John Holt (how children learn) talks about this a lot. i say "this really does look like a triceratops" without adding that it is actually another dino. and this is only when she seeks my attention. if she does not, i let it go.

we try not to laugh when she says smth funny. but sometimes it is hard.