My son is three and is developing a sense of will and self as most of his peer group do at this time. When he is not wanting to do as we ask (i.e. get in the car, leave a place we were having fun at, be in the house for dinner, going to bed etc.) he acts as if he will comply and then takes off in full run in the opposite direction. We have come to expect this and have figured out how to manage it physically or to avoid it all together.
However the other night during our bedtime chat hour, he tells me "I need to go out on my own sometimes" going on to clarify not with his parents or others. I explain that we need to keep him safe reminding him of running in the street, parking lots, down stairs, and getting lost. He said he can keep himself safe and wont get lost and repeats that he needs to go out on his own sometimes. I ask him why and he says because he feels like he is in a "cage with no door."
How would parents answer this question to there own gifted child young child and also address their need for freedom? I had some, but want to hear what others would say keeping in mind sensitivity and being prone to nightmares.
When my kids were three, I was less interested in "addressing their need for freedom" than I was in keeping them from getting hit by cars.
In my opinion, setting boundaries are what's important for toddlers, not respecting "freedom". I'm not even sure what that term means in respect to a 3 year old?
Are you afraid if you start telling him "no" and setting boundaries you're going to mess him up? If you don't do it now, life's going to do it to him later, and that's not a pretty thing to see.
The next time he says "I need to go out on my own sometimes" you can say "that's fine, when you're a grownup, you can go do whatever you want. But right now you're three, and that means you stay with me, because you're not capable yet of understanding what freedom entails, nor do you have the ability to perceive threats and possible consequences."
Or, alternatively, "But right now you're three, and that means you stay with me, because I'm the Mom."
