maylips
09-16-2012, 09:43 PM
My 3 year old (August 4) son is a pretty outgoing kid - friendly, happy, likes new adventures, etc. And until recently he happily accepted whatever we were doing and was fine.
Lately, though.....OH.MY. He refuses to go to the fitness center kids area without his older sister, so now I can't work out while DD is at kindergarten and he's with me in the morning. He attends a preschool 2 mornings per week and is fine about going until we pull into the parking lot; then he starts saying "--- scared, --- scared" over and over. I usually will stay there until he's distracted enough that he doesn't notice me leaving. He's fine when I pick him up and the teachers go on and on about how great he was, but he DOES NOT ever want me to leave. And if he's distracted but still sees me try to leave, he freaks out, grabs my legs and cries uncontrollably.
This morning, he started the same stuff when DH tried to drop him off in his Sunday School class. He raised such a fuss that DH finally just took him to the class I was teaching (the k-2nd grade class that DD is in) and he participated in that fine.
My daughter was the shy one so I don't understand this behavior. Is it common for this age? Anyone have any experience, or tips on how I can help him work through doing stuff on his own with groups that don't include me or his older sister?
We don't want to coddle the behavior but we also don't want to dismiss it if he's truly scared and frightened. We also don't know when to cry "uncle" so the scene isn't so disruptive to the group he's supposed to be with. We don't want to draw all of this attention to the situation but we also don't want to let him know if he acts like that he gets his way, either.
Lately, though.....OH.MY. He refuses to go to the fitness center kids area without his older sister, so now I can't work out while DD is at kindergarten and he's with me in the morning. He attends a preschool 2 mornings per week and is fine about going until we pull into the parking lot; then he starts saying "--- scared, --- scared" over and over. I usually will stay there until he's distracted enough that he doesn't notice me leaving. He's fine when I pick him up and the teachers go on and on about how great he was, but he DOES NOT ever want me to leave. And if he's distracted but still sees me try to leave, he freaks out, grabs my legs and cries uncontrollably.
This morning, he started the same stuff when DH tried to drop him off in his Sunday School class. He raised such a fuss that DH finally just took him to the class I was teaching (the k-2nd grade class that DD is in) and he participated in that fine.
My daughter was the shy one so I don't understand this behavior. Is it common for this age? Anyone have any experience, or tips on how I can help him work through doing stuff on his own with groups that don't include me or his older sister?
We don't want to coddle the behavior but we also don't want to dismiss it if he's truly scared and frightened. We also don't know when to cry "uncle" so the scene isn't so disruptive to the group he's supposed to be with. We don't want to draw all of this attention to the situation but we also don't want to let him know if he acts like that he gets his way, either.