Normal 3.5 yo behavior or ?

[mmommy]

DD1, who will be 4 in June, gets really preoccupied with tiny details about objects/clothing items. Right now she's supposed to be asleep but she's crying because I couldn't find her slippers and I gave her a pair of green socks to wear instead and she apparently doesn't like green right now. Earlier today she refused to participate in ballet because her "ballet slippers weren't tight enough". Sometimes she'll freak out if her pony tail isn't just right. She loses her *hit if she drops her stuffed animal while we're walking, even if I stop right away for her to pick it up.
I guess, as I'm typing this out I'm seeing it as typical 3 yo behavior. Is it? DH has a bit of OCD, so I'm nervous about that. If it is typical, when will it change? (she just grumbled by with "green is NOT my favorite color!") I'm SOOO ready for it to change!

[BabyBearsMom]

My 3 yo is like this. I think it's normal. If her sleeves get wet when she washes her hands...disaster. I am so glad it is shirt sleeve weather

[wellyes]

Totally normal. Trying to exert some control in her world. She doesn't get to pick what she eats, where she goes, her schedule, so she's seeing what she CAN set terms for on her own. It's good really. But, I liked 4 much more than 3.

[PZMommy]

My DS is the same way! He is almost 4.

[BayGirl2]

Sounds like my DS. Same birth month as your DD. yesterday I compared him to a 13 yo girl with PMS.

[hellokitty]

Normal. My 3 yr old turns 4 at the end of July, and he has been my only kid who gets really fixated with certain articles of clothes. He has weird reasons for refusing to wear certain things and then will complain that this or that is bugging him about certain clothes or shoes, which is annoying, since some of the stuff he begged me to buy for him and then later decided he didn't want anything to do with it. He is also my only one who wants to pick out what he is going to wear each day, which surprised me. My other two didn't care until they were in grade school. If I recommend a shirt to him, he acts as if I've mortally offended him. I feel like he's a 13 yr old diva. The teen yrs are going to be interesting with that one...

[ArizonaGirl]

Normal. My 3 yr old turns 4 at the end of July, and he has been my only kid who gets really fixated with certain articles of clothes. He has weird reasons for refusing to wear certain things and then will complain that this or that is bugging him about certain clothes or shoes, which is annoying, since some of the stuff he begged me to buy for him and then later decided he didn't want anything to do with it. He is also my only one who wants to pick out what he is going to wear each day, which surprised me. My other two didn't care until they were in grade school. If I recommend a shirt to him, he acts as if I've mortally offended him. I feel like he's a 13 yr old diva. The teen yrs are going to be interesting with that one...

OMG, you just described my 4.5 year old, however, there are some other behaviors that lead us to believe there may be more going on, seeing a child psychologist in a week and a half. But, I digress. He has major Diva-tude.

Sigh...

[L'sMommy]

Totally normal, and I hate to say it extends into the 4's also.....DS is almost 4.5 and is so nit picky about clothes and the way things fit!

[♥ms.pacman♥]

i vote normal. not all kids are like this but many 3yos are. my ds is just like this. he has to have a BLUE straw in his come. the other day it was pajama day at school and he refused to wear his pjs to school..he had to wear regular clothes. anything that deviates from the routine tends to upset him. and yeah, at night he always wants his dark blue socks. other ones won't do.

[BDKmom]

I didn't start this thread, but all of the examples of quirky 3 yr old behavior is making me feel better. I have been saying lately that I thought I had 10 more years before I had a teenager in the house. It took forever for me to potty train mine, not because he didn't know how and when to go, but because he refused to wear anything except a diaper. It messed with the routine. And he's obsessed with washing his hands, but heaven help us if water gets anywhere else in the process. It's exhausting.

ETA: Meant to add, my DS is also insanely concerned with whether or not people are wearing socks. And, around the house he doesn't want me or DH barefoot. If I'm barefoot when tucking him in, he wants me to hide my feet under the blanket so he can't see them.

[twowhat?]

Totally and completely normal. Though I do think some kids are "worse" than others when it comes to this kind of stuff. My DD1 is clearly more laid back and only about 25% of the things that bother DD2 will bother DD1.

But my DD2 is a freakin' disaster! Putting on socks every morning really sucks because if the seam (yes, the SEAM...and I'm not talking just at the toe...but at the heel too) isn't *just* right she will lose it. And I can go on and on and on with other examples of how particular she is and how easily she will lose it if it's not "perfect" (in her mind). And oh yes...this started about 2.5 and now she's 4.5 and it's still going on (though it's *slightly* better now).

[♥ms.pacman♥]

Though I do think some kids are "worse" than others when it comes to this kind of stuff. My DD1 is clearly more laid back and only about 25% of the things that bother DD2 will bother DD1.



yeah, it's like this with my dd and ds. though my dd is the drama queen, my ds is the OCD king :) he is essentially the 3yo version of Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory. Everything has to be perfect (in his mind) and done a certain way, every time. Deviate from the script and you'll have to endure the wrath of an extremely bothered 3yo.