My 5yo DD seems to have anger issues and we can't work out why.
At home we don't fight and in general aren't cranky people but she seems to be cranky and have attitude about everything even simple things like what she wants for breakfast she is cranky about or if you ask her to put her shoes in her room she will yell and say why does she have to do everything.
Her sister has been sick recently so we aren't sure if it because she hasn't been getting all the attention. She was being mean to her sister while she was crying because she was sick and I asked her to stop being mean as she is sick and asked if she cared and she said no I don't care if she is sick.
I just don't know what to do. I try and talk calmly and rational to her I don't yell I try not to get angry or cranky around her. When I ask why she is angry or upset she says 'because that's why' and 'I'm just frustrated I don't get what I want' I asked what she meant and it was because I hadn't bought a certain type of fruit that week which I didn't even know she wanted in the first place.
I'm trying to teach her that we don't always get our way and we can't be cranky all
The time because of that but she doesn't seem to care.
I want my happy little house back. Is it something that is bad enough I need to send her to a counsellor. I don't want to scar her but sending her to a shrink at a young age for something that was just a phase but I don't want to to keep going on like this being cranky all the time. No 5yo should feel like that.
I'm just at a loss of the right thing to do. :(
5yo with Anger Issues.
5yo with Anger Issues.
Posted in:
Behaviour
5 Replies
5 year olds can be cranky bastards! Is she in school? What do the teachers say?
Honestly most of what you described sounds like typical child behaviour. It's pretty normal for siblings to be mean and tease each other and try and get out of chores etc.
She is in school. I have sent a letter off to her teacher today asking about how she is behaving in school.
I thought it was normal but just seemed excessive.
1. Sending her to a shrink wont scar her. My kis loves her 'emotions teacher' asks to go play with her all the time.
And Ive gotten the help to understand and help her. You need to remove that stigma you have.
2. Instead of teaching lessons I would try to support the feeling of not being heard, cared for and helped. Offer her help and kindness. If kids are out of theie depth theyre uncomfortable, put the supports back up foe awhile, then take them away more slowly and watch her get into it knowing youre there.
3. I don't buy into that kids are just assholes, theres always something going on that you can help them with. They dont express it nicely but shes telling you what it is.
Shrink? Scar her? You're not having her committed, wth? Still so much stigma/lack of understanding in our community, makes me sad.
B vitamins did wonders for my eldest daughter when she suddenly turned cranky. Same for many adults in my family, very irritable and moody when they haven't been taking their B complex! I looked on all the kids vitamins labels and chose one with the highest content of B vitamins (had to stand there and compare all the mg on the bottles, took me ages) but it made a huge difference. P.S. also just be a bit careful of the language you use regarding counselling - it's completely normal and acceptable to seek a counsellor at any stage of our lives, and I think it's important to make sure we're mindful of using non-judgmental language when mentioning these things to the kids. I'm thinking you were probably just venting anonymously on your post, and probably wouldn't speak that way to your kids, but I couldn't help feeling a bit uneasy reading that. Hope your little miss cheers up soon xo