Help me not be always scolding DD age 7

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I get it. I was a kid who was naturally very conscientious. I never had to be explicitly told not to do dumb-shit things in a physical dimension. So to me, it's irritatingly obvious that you should watch where you are going, take care not to bump into things, etc. Really, really obvious. However, I think those of us who are naturally like this are in the minority.

This child is growing. It has nothing to do with taking care with every single move. It has everything to do with mom not providing an adequate selection of movement types.

[Anonymous]

Op, I have a seven year old daughter, too. I'm just starting to realize that she is s a sensory seeker, an in addition to being clumsy, also wants to wrestle, swing, be tickled, be "stretched", and climb on everything. My daughter also has pretty terrible impulse control, so those behaviors combined with an inability to make good decisions had led to a lot of exasperation on my end.

You're not alone. We run, bike, hike, go to playgrounds, have a swing set and jungle gym, and have converted our basement into a jumping/swinging land. She misbehaves when she needs an energy outlet, which is always. It's all very challenging.

[Anonymous]

I run a camp so I'm in a position to be constantly "scolding" kids. I try as hard as possible to phrase everything I say positively. So "let's think about our friends as we walk across the room" rather than "don't bump into your friends and walk on their hands." "Let's put our bottoms on the bench" as opposed to "don't stand on the bench." That way when I do have to quickly say "get down" because the standing on the bench has suddenly become more of a danger situation, I haven't just said 10 other negative things in a row. It puts me in a better mood too, but it's not always easy when you have a bunch of kids running all over the place. I try to use it with my own kids, too, though as teenager they will tell you that I probably nag them too much!

[Anonymous]

I remember finally screaming at my daughter because hours after I told her to do something, it still wasn't done. I felt guilty about this for years and one day I told her I wanted to apologize again for screaming at her and she gave me a puzzled look and asked what I was talking about. Being a parent is so hard so give yourself a break. Maybe take her out to lunch and just tell her how much you love her. Sending you a virtual hug.

[Anonymous]

Can you get her a bunk bed (shorter kind from ikea) and attach a slide so she can climb ip and slide down to her hearts content? Thats what im doing for my on the move 5 year old this winter.