Hoarder, Liar, Thief

[PunkyBoo]

I'm talking about my 4 year old, Boo. Are those "normal" traits of 4 year olds? He steals stuff from my room or his brother's room daily, and hides them in his stash of junk. He tries to "collect trash" by stashing away every toilet paper or paper towel tube and cardboard box he can find. He even says "but I'm a trash collector!" when we try to throw that stuff away out of his stash. And the lying! Im not even sure he fully grasps the concepts of "truth" and lies. Punkin was always more of a rule-follower so this is all new territory tor us. Is this just a phase, or are we raising the next reality-show-star???

[Indianamom2]

Well, I'm right there with the "liar" part. Ds will be 4 in July and he lies ALL.THE.TIME. I don't know if he really gets it or if it's just a phase, but I can't trust a single thing the kid says. DD wasn't anything like this. She'd be more likely to tell on herself than lie!

[megv]

Right there with you. Ds2 makes up the most elaborate lies. He says oh I am telling you a joke. Um, not really.

[BabbyO]

We've got another one who will be 4 in July and lying has become more common. The other night DH saw Stachio take something from his brother then Stachio flat out said he didn't. I'm not sure he gets fibbing vs truth either.

And Stachio has always been a collector - rocks, sticks, toilet paper tubes, misc containers (often from the recycling) etc. I am starting to see him use his imagination with these items a little more (the tubes and recycled containers) and incorporate them into his play as towers, telescopes, elevators, and whatnot.

I don't let the collecting get to me, too much - but he's generally not taking anything from anyone per se. But we do pare down his collection from time to time.

[MSWR0319]

Ds is 4.5 and has started being sneaky and telling lies. This weekend he ate part of his brother's birthday cake when no one was looking and he said he "accidentally" ate it when I questioned him. I'm hoping it's a phase.

[PunkyBoo]

Oh my gosh yes! Boo says "it was an accident!" whenever he is questioned! No, Boo, it wasn't an accident that you took a charm off my dresser and hid it in your cardboard waffle box! Nor was it an accident that you found a sharpie in my desk drawer you KNOW you aren't supposed to be in and got scribbles on the dining room tablecloth!

[egoldber]

Younger DD does this all.the.time. She was stealing and hoarding things from me, her sister, school, after care,.... She stole and hid her sister's cell phone for a week before we realized she had it!

In her case, it related to impulse control issues and was part of her constellation of symptoms for an ADHD diagnosis. But I think that many kids go through phases where they do this.

[Dream]

Right there with you. Ds2 makes up the most elaborate lies. He says oh I am telling you a joke. Um, not really.

:yeahthat: That's totally my DD who's 4 too. If I say I'm upset that she lied then she says 'no it was a joke'.

[emily]

At 5, we have gotten past the stealing. She used to bring lego pieces and random toy pieces from daycare. But oh my, the hoarding is still in full force. She has a shelf in her closet that she keeps all her "special things". Every couple of weeks, we take it all out, and make her throw out what is clearly trash.