Strange 6-Year Behavior

I think the other moms have given you some good feedback. I would also suggest finding a good child therapist so she could talk to someone about the divorce and anything else that might be bothering her. It does sound like regressive behavior which could be caused by a variety of things, such as the divorce, the new baby, competing with her brother for attention, etc. (I used to be a child therapist, but I'm staying home full-time now.) Good luck!

Sounds like she is struggling to know where she fits in your life. She may also be worried if dad no longer is in the home maybe she will have to leave too. I am in my second marriage and know how confused kids can get. My separation from my ex and the birth of my youngest came very close together which did make my oldest(8 at the time) unsure of himself and his place in my life. Taking time with my son at bedtime and letting him opening talk about things about encouraging the topics help him know how much he was loved and that I loved him forever. He is now a well adjusted and loving 14 yr old. She wants to know you love her unconditionally. Make a big deal about her being a big sister and how much help she is to the family. Make her feel important. You do all that and this will pass. Happy mothering.

sounds to me like she is looking for attention, how recent is the divorce? and how well do the two of you get along? is this third baby his or is she dealing with a new man in mommy's life as well? all of these things can cause a child to act out to seek attention or to regress to behavior that is suited to a smaller child in order to get that attention, and like you said you are tired of consistently being a grump which means she is gettting a LOT of attention doing these things so in her world it is working and she will continue to do them, i don't think disipline is the answer so much as finiding a way for her to get positive attention for things you like for her to do in order to break the cycle, and as a single mom that is hard to do not to mention the fact that they aren't there all the time. you could try changing the shared paernting schedual a little bit to grant you some alone time with her and with your son as well, say you drop him off at 3 and her at 6 and have dinner or play with just her for 3 hours and then you pick him up at 3 the day they come home and do the same thing. something else to keep in mind is that if this is attention it will get worse before it gets better, with a baby on the way she is due to lose even more mommy time than she already has, so try to find the good things she does and even if it is silly or seems to be no big deal to you make it a big deal, make it as big a deal as the stuff she is doing wrong and break this negative attntion cycle. good luck.

I wonder if she behaves this way with her father and how the rules are structured at his house? She could be doing it for attention, which she would be getting. I don't want to anger anyone, but it seems like she might not be getting any discipline. Like she did it once and someone laughed so the behaivor escalated. Good Luck!

Wow, what a tough situation. I worked with emotionally disturbed children for 8 years before becoming a SAHM, so I'm sure I often over-analyze kids. It sounds like she might be going through an adjustment problem, maybe with all of the changes going on in her life. You appear to be very busy, working full time and going to school part time, so I would look at who she's spending her time with while you are away. She might also just be missing you and acting out to get attention. You might try giving her attention for the good things she does, and ignore as much of the negative attention-seeking behavior as possible. Like another person responded, I also was concerned about the possibility of her being abused. I agree with the moms who suggested looking into counseling her her. Good luck, hope everything works out for you.

Sweetie, I don't know how long you were married or how long you've been divorced but I think this strange behavior is her expressing her distress over this HUGE change in her life. I seperated my first husband when my kids were 2 and 6. The oldest didn't say much about how she felt about it but her grades suffered and she wasn't as bubbly as before. When she asked why we weren't together anymore I explained Daddy and I weren't happy like married people should be and needed a timeout. This helped us be better parents for her and her brother because we got along better for them because we happier apart. Being pregnant and working so hard its understandable you haven't had time to see this situation through her eyes. I could be totally off base but this is the best I can figure from what you've shared.

I hate to bring this up but my neighbor was experiencing the same problems with her 4-year-old daughter and she found that the problem was every parents worst nightmare. Her daughter had been molested by her uncle. I am not saying that this is happening to your daughter but it is worth finding out. I hope for everyone concerned this is not the case. I wish you luck in finding out the cause.

As a mother of six, I would say something has happened that has her really bothered and her behavior is how she is dealing with it. I hope i'm wrong.