My daughter is almost 5 and before I get into her difficult behaviors...I want to state that she is gregarious, very funny, loving and giving. What I am concerned about however is what appears to be this innate attention/seeking and manipulative behavior. She is very argumentative...often tries to negotiate regardless of knowing the outcome of such behaviors.
When she was very little she loved learning and I loved teaching her. We spent a lot of time doing that and she wants that kind of time from me currently but it's as if she continually tries to view me as her little friend as opposed to her parent and I continually remind her that I am first and foremost her parent. I would love to give her quality time but I can only pretend to be a character in a movie or TV show so often. She has a vivid imagination which is awesome and thankfully she understands the difference btw. fiction and reality. I will admit that I do have trouble with pretend play which is a shame because I too used to have quite the imagination.
She seems to seek attention constantly talking about any minor scratch or bruise she gets and honestly I think she purposely falls at times. We feel she is gifted though don't have the funds to test her but everything points to it.
She always wants to make us laugh, she can be quite the comedian but it almost seems dysfunctional in that it is too much of a need. During play she always wants to be in control and tell you what to say and do and of course I do allow room for her to direct the play but I also do redirect her to ensure that she is allowing me or someone else to choose how they play their role in the game.
There's so much more but it would take forever. I am just concerned that she is too focused on attention and losing sight of just being a kid. I don't want her self-esteem to be attached to how much attention she is getting from others or for her to depend upon others to make her feel important. I am told she is very confident in her preschool so I am happy to hear that...yet her attention seeking behavior, to me anyway...is borderlining on dysfunctional for someone so young.
