J
just_lost
Guest
I am out of ideas. My husband and I are blessed with a very precocious just-turned 5 year old. However, she throws screaming fits whenever something does not go her way. These screams can be heard down our block, so much so that I have had to assure our neighbors that we do not beat our children. This is the biggest problem, our other daughter who just turned 2. We have tried positive reinforcement, the problem is there is nothing my daughter wants or looks forward to she would very easily miss her dance recital that she had been working weeks for or a birthday party for her friend. I make sure to praise her for all of her good behavior, but yet she continues the screaming fits. We have tried time out - she could care less and it has not modified her behavior. We emptied her bedroom and play room and she cared less. We have ignored the screaming but it will go on for hours and when I must get to work on time or risk losing my job, there is only so much ignoring I can do. Talking to her is a lost cause, she tell us what we want to hear and then returns to this behavior after a day. I am afraid that my other daughter is now suffering because of this behavior. When my 5 year old screams, she scares her sister and makes her cry. We have also brought this to her attention, (the two are very close) and she will stop, say she is sorry to her, and then go scream in her bedroom. Sometimes I wait so long for her to settle down that my other daugther has missed her play time, or other activity that she was supposed to do. I thought that she may do this on spite but there is no rhyme or reason to it. Anything can set her off. I always make sure that they have individual activities with mom and dad so they do not feel that they are ignored. She only does this with us, her parents. In preschool her teachers love her. She always does what is told and has no problems with school work or social behavior with peers or adults. She is wonderful for her grandparents and aunts and uncles as well. Both of my parents are educators as am I and when I mention about having her speak to a psychologist they think I am crazy. They tell me this is normal, yet I have never witnessed this behavior in other children. I even spoke to my pediatrician and he told me to use time out, which we do consistently but it has not lead to any changes. This is leading to arguments with my husband, parents, and others and I can not continue to go like this. Other parents tell me she will grow out of it, but they have been telling me this since she was 1.5 yrs when it started and it has been 3.5 yrs now of the same behavior. I am just lost.