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cheeky four year old to grandma

5 replies

mollythetortoise · 27/10/2007 22:06

Hello all, as topic says I have a lovely but cheeky four year old daughter. She has just started school and has a new brother (5 months) which may explain her behaviour a little but basically she has become very rude, particularly to my mum who lives nearby and she does see a lot. Generally she answers her back, says "boring!" when my mum suggests activities to do and today we had her brother's christening, lots of family around and she said twice to my mum when my mum spoke to her "I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to ...". My mum doesn't reprimand her for this , I do - but I don't feel i do it strongly enough as I don't want to create a scene that is unnecessary. My question is... should I be harder on her when she is cheeky in public even if this causes a bigger fuss at the time. It is the lack of respect for my mum that concerns me, I would never have spoken to my grandma like that. I do speak sternly to her once we are alone but perhaps this is too little too late? what do others do when their children are cheeky to others in public?

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MeMySonAndI · 27/10/2007 22:20

I really have no trouble whatsoever on telling my DS off if he is misbehaving. I normally give him a warning, if he insists... we find immediatly a quiet place to sit for 4 minutes. We rarely need to enforce the noughty step, he knows that an audience wouldn't stop us which seems to stop the behaviour at the first warning.

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MeMySonAndI · 27/10/2007 22:22

BTW. I have found people quite suportive, they won't complain if they have seen your child misbehaving and see you dealing with it. As long as you are fair, keep the calm and don't yell, people wouldn't judge you.

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seeker · 27/10/2007 22:25

I would talk to your mum about it. I had a similar problem and waded in very publically only to discover that my mum had planned to remove dd and have a quiet word with her as soon as she could do it without making a fuss. I felt as if I had over reacted, my mum felt I had undermined her and my dd felt aggrieved and resentful. The ultimate lose/lose situation!

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bozza · 27/10/2007 22:28

I think you need to stamp on this. My 3 1/2 yo has started being cheeky. And I remember it from my 6yo at this sort of age. They don't altogether understand they are being cheeky (my 6yo does now and is immediately brought to task if he tries it on) but they need to learn. I understand not being too harsh at your DS's christening but in future I think you should work on it even if in public. Although I do think a new sibling and starting school are big milestones in a young child's life I think you have to be careful not to allow too much leeway in this area.

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mollythetortoise · 28/10/2007 16:06

thanks all for advice. It is something i need to get control of now before it gets worst. think i will speak to my mum about it so we can both tackle it.. to be honest this hadn't occurred to me as we tend not to discuss parenting issues!!