Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school Four year old is driving me crazy!!!

Kriston, this is brilliant! I'm going to remember this for when Hanni is older. She is definitely an ILP (Intense Little Person).

I love it, too, Kriston. DD is not usually overly dramatic, but we all have our moments. Definitely going to try that one out...

I hope it works for all of you.

I'm a Spock-like person with a highly emotional kid, so this seemed to be a good way to honor his feelings (Instead of dismissing them with an "It's not that bad," as both my husband and I were wont to do) while still letting him know that he was overreacting and, more importantly, how he could fix it. He's a numbers kid, too, so that really worked for him.

Let me know how it goes for all of you who try it, will you please? I always wonder if it's effective just for my kid or if it will work more broadly.

Kriston

Wish we'd had that system when he was younger.

We used to use a checklist for ailments, so if he had pains in his tummy we had him go through 5 possibilities before he raised it with us - and this seemed to work. (won't go into details on the 5 checklist items )

Something that worked with one of my sons, who screamed like a banshee for even minor things, was to ask him to try to cry quietly. His difficulty was that if someone suggested he stop or try to be calm, he would try and then get frustrated at not being able to and end up crying harder for that frustration. By giving him 'permission' to cry, he learned control at a pace more in line with his intense emotions.

I feel so much better! You are all so helpful and understanding. I can see the number system or the trying to cry quitly working for my son. It helps so much to know that I am not the only one with these issues...I think I'll go cry like a banshee now. Thank you all so much, I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Natalie (Jimmysmom)

Min: I agree! We talked about crying being okay but *screaming* not being acceptable. Feelings aren't something that we can necessarily control, but *actions* are.

Good one!

It worked! Thank you Kriston!! We had two injuries today (one of which was when the baby was napping) and he started his high pitch melodramatic screaming and crying. So, I explained to him the 1-10 system and he stopped crying and started thinking! I'm so happy and the baby stayed asleep (HUGE feat while Jimmy is home).

Yea!

Oh, yay! That's great! I'm really pleased that it saved the baby's nap for you.

You made my night!

Love the idea, Kriston. Can't wait to try it the next time the world is ending at our house (i.e. falling of her bike and skinning her knee). It might prevent the screams of "Call an ambulance" as she crawled home.