Hi all!
Hope you're all doing OK in these crazy times.
I'm wondering what you guys might do with a similar situation.
I have a little girl aged 7 who comes to me every day. I've been having her over a year and she's always been a little emotional and moody. That's just her I believe.
I take her to school, collect her again and give her dinner. I also home schooled her all through the lockdown and agree with mum that she needs an assessment for dyslexia.

But lately, she's become really really grumpy with a growing attitude problem. Mum is well aware and she is apparently the same at home.
She often starts each day with a statement like "I hate......" and it can be anything from 'Fridays', 'this bag', 'that song'. She paces and huffs around the place. At times if another child invites her to play she will yell no as if they have asked her something really offensive. She can be quite controlling so I often have to talk to her to compromise during play. She often scowls,and drops unkind comments. Eg, a little boy in my setting said "Wow this is so exciting" looking at a new book to which she remarked "no it's not". Just horrible and totally unnecessary.
I have tried being super positive with her and helping her look for things to be happy about. I comment positively when she speaks kindly to the others and try to ignore the attitude problem.

I'm afraid I'm losing my patience. Could this be attention seeking. Has she worked out that being like this gets her attention. The last thing I want to do is shut down any real worries or fears she may want to talk about. Mum works full time and I want to be there for her. But I really am starting to winder if some tough love is needed. Eg, If you can't say something nice, say nothing at all. Or tell her I don't want to hear any more moaning. Is that harsh? Help please xxx