terrydoo73
06-11-2009, 10:06 PM
I have a little mindee girl who will be 4 next month. She attends nursery for 2 1/2 hours a day so does not arrive with me until 12 midday.
On Monday past after being off since the Wednesday for hallowe'en she came in from nursery and played quite happily for the rest of the day. When I say play she went into the toy room and chose a toy then played with it for quite some time eg dressing a doll, putting it into a cot, feeding it, etc etc.
She has repeated this whole process for the rest of the week except for today. Today she regressed into the behaviour she showed before she went off for the break. What I mean is this ...
Instead of playing with any specific toy she went in tossed a number of toys around on the floor, walked into the living room and sat down on the couch just staring at me for a long period of time. I was at this time picking out some pictures from a magazine to use in arts and crafts time. She did go over and look at the pictures but then quickly went back into the playroom and tempted her little brother to play "catch" - running from one end of the house to the other encouraging him to run after her. I do not allow running as I am always afraid of accidents and I continually repeat this to the children. I asked them to stop which she just laughed at. I then went and lifted both children and sat them on separate couches. I then looked at them and repeated my rule on no running and asked them both if they understood to which they said they did. I then asked them to go in and choose a toy and play with it. She repeated the process of lifting out a toy or two throwing it around the room and coming back into the living room to follow me around like a shadow.
I am at my wits end with this behaviour. Why? I have seen her able to play on her own and quite happily so what is the meaning of her behaviour today? I do not feel that I should be showing her how to play or what to play with - she knows through nursery running what is expected of her. Is she just looking for my attention? How should I handle this? What should I say/do with her to encourage her to play? What I am really worried about is the fact that this behaviour is rubbing off on her brother - I cannot honestly say what he played with today while she was present.
I am thinking this is due a need for sleep but I could be wrong. When my daughter came in from school there was only half an hour and I (rightly or wrongly) went and put all the toys away while they all sat down to watch tv - reason I did put all the toys away myself was for peace to be on my own and be assured that everything was away in the correct place for the weekend. It was obvious when she was sitting watching tv by all her yawning that she was very tired - mum has stopped telling me about her sleeping pattern at nights now as it appears that she continually has a broken nights sleep every night - either she wakes up 2 hours after going to bed or is up at 6 am.
I am at my wits end with this whole situation and really need assurance that I am doing and thinking correctly (am I??). The situation is something I want to get a hold of because I feel I am failing as a childminder by this one child alone. Please help!
On Monday past after being off since the Wednesday for hallowe'en she came in from nursery and played quite happily for the rest of the day. When I say play she went into the toy room and chose a toy then played with it for quite some time eg dressing a doll, putting it into a cot, feeding it, etc etc.
She has repeated this whole process for the rest of the week except for today. Today she regressed into the behaviour she showed before she went off for the break. What I mean is this ...
Instead of playing with any specific toy she went in tossed a number of toys around on the floor, walked into the living room and sat down on the couch just staring at me for a long period of time. I was at this time picking out some pictures from a magazine to use in arts and crafts time. She did go over and look at the pictures but then quickly went back into the playroom and tempted her little brother to play "catch" - running from one end of the house to the other encouraging him to run after her. I do not allow running as I am always afraid of accidents and I continually repeat this to the children. I asked them to stop which she just laughed at. I then went and lifted both children and sat them on separate couches. I then looked at them and repeated my rule on no running and asked them both if they understood to which they said they did. I then asked them to go in and choose a toy and play with it. She repeated the process of lifting out a toy or two throwing it around the room and coming back into the living room to follow me around like a shadow.
I am at my wits end with this behaviour. Why? I have seen her able to play on her own and quite happily so what is the meaning of her behaviour today? I do not feel that I should be showing her how to play or what to play with - she knows through nursery running what is expected of her. Is she just looking for my attention? How should I handle this? What should I say/do with her to encourage her to play? What I am really worried about is the fact that this behaviour is rubbing off on her brother - I cannot honestly say what he played with today while she was present.
I am thinking this is due a need for sleep but I could be wrong. When my daughter came in from school there was only half an hour and I (rightly or wrongly) went and put all the toys away while they all sat down to watch tv - reason I did put all the toys away myself was for peace to be on my own and be assured that everything was away in the correct place for the weekend. It was obvious when she was sitting watching tv by all her yawning that she was very tired - mum has stopped telling me about her sleeping pattern at nights now as it appears that she continually has a broken nights sleep every night - either she wakes up 2 hours after going to bed or is up at 6 am.
I am at my wits end with this whole situation and really need assurance that I am doing and thinking correctly (am I??). The situation is something I want to get a hold of because I feel I am failing as a childminder by this one child alone. Please help!