My just turned four year old is wearing me down. Yes, she can be charming, funny, highly imaginative, very artistic, and adorable, but the flip side can be very draining. I am home with her and her active, bright, mischievious two year old sister, full time.

She is so intense, with this constant stream of outward moving energy, highly melodramatic and prone to erupting into very, very loud, very, very intense screaming fits that are louder and more over the top than if she were being poked with a hot poker when maybe all it was is she got a little water in her eye. Here's another example: she told me "I ruined the life of a child" because I wouldn't buy her a stuffed animal and screamed and carried on for an hour. I didn't want to get it because she was so pushy and rude about demanding one. I don't reward that sort of behavior. She also has an inability to back down, is highly impertinent, and well, seems plain ole hyper to me and feels a need to grab things, loves to toss things in the air, and needs almost constant attention. She has gotten more attention from me, often one on one, than a majority of children so it isn't as though she has been ignored. There is probably more LOL

A year or so ago I went to a psychologist because I worried about ADHD or something else and that is when she was unexpectedly given an IQ test and he basically said she was very bright and he saw no signs of anything else, but all he did was spend the time together with the IQ test which is hardly a natural environment to see how she behaves: she stood almost the entire time and held on to the table and bounced up and down with excitement during the entire test(is that normal? LOL). She did quiet down to do the puzzle aspect which ended up being her lowest score. I also had someone from our school district come to observe her at school and they said the same thing: significantly advanced, but no signs of anything else. In fact, they said she was outgoing and introdues the observer around to everyone. Whatever you call what she is, I am just feeling exhausted.

There are not any children for her to play with on a regular basis so I get burned out from her almost constant need for conversation and interaction, but there is no easy solution. There is no one to babysit for us.

I know I have posted about this in the past, but am just feeling overwhelmed today and wondered if there are any resources. I have read all the common "spirited kid" books and many parenting books on parenting defiant kids, but wondered if anyone knew about books that deal with defiant, overly emotional gifted kids or can at least epathize with what I am going through...thanks.