My ds, 4.5 is getting so impatient. it is getting so bad that I dread going to any store, he will be 'so tired', drag his feet, ask a million times when we are going home, when are we going to pay, and sigh heavily through the whole ordeal. I try to do a lot of my shopping alone, but this happens for every trip, every errand, etc. that is not a 'fun' one.

Ditto me getting anything done in the house so he can play with me. I'm trying to help him increase his patience without losing mine! Any good advice?!

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Have you tried telling him that if he doesn't complain while you finish what you have to get done, then (and only then) you will get to do something that he wants to do. You could even take it up a notch and tell him if he helps you finish your task it will get done faster. If he's helping, maybe it will take his mind off the wait.

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Anything that I have to do as far as housework goes the kids have to help me with. We make it a game... they take turns emptying the trash (one does the first bin, the next does the other). Scrubbing the toilet- that is a hot commodity. They have to take turns with the scrubber and there is a time limit for each turn. Laundry- they pull the stuff out of the dryer and play a guessing game- whose sock is it, etc. Then they carry stuff to their rooms. Ds helps fold napkins and kitchen towels.

At the store, if ds starts in with "I'm tired", I tell him: "Wow- if you're that tired you'd better go right to bed when we get home. I guess you're too tired to go the pool later(or the park, etc)". For the "let's go home", I tell him we'll go as soon as the shopping is done, then I give him a couple of things to help me watch for or to help me find (apples, paper towels, whatever.) I tell him we'll go home sooner if he helps me. Having a "job" to do perks him up. Sometimes I let each kid pick out their own fruit or vegetable to take home... they can pick whatever they want, but they have to take care of it and carry it through the store. That keeps them occupied.

And some days there is just a lot of whining....

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Thanks for the pointers. My 3 year old has been driving me nuts lately w/ whining and impatients. What do you do about interrupting? I can't seem to figure out a way to get him to stop when I'm talking to someone or on the phone. Any suggestions out there? Thanks in advance,
Rachel

I will ignore my ds until he uses "his nice excuse me words". I'll wait for a break in conversation and then I'll say, "how do you use your nice excuse me words?" and when he says, "excuse me", I'll say, "Yes, 'Johnny', how can I help you?" and I will stop my conversation and really listen to him. When he knows that when he uses his excuse me words that they really Work, he will say , 'excuse me'. Sometimes I'll still have to ask him to use them but he's getting much better, because he knows they work and that I'll really listen to him if he uses them.

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Thanks for the advice about "excuse me". I'll have to be more diligent to stop and listen to him. Maybe that's the problem. (Me). lol

Are you talking about my 4 year old? We have been working on this for several months and it doesn't seem to be getting better. We dread going to restraunts too.

The "excuse me" he has down pat, but he is so consistant and as soon as he finishes one question or statement, he is lined up with the next "excuse me". There is no way to have a conversation with anyone when he is around - literally. Now we have to send him to his room until we are done. You would think after a few times of this he would understand, but nope.

If we go to the grocery store he generally wants a cookie from the bakery. He ONLY gets one if he is well behaved at the end of the trip before we check out. I too have him help push the cart and put things into the cart. If we go to the store he likes to "pay" so I give him the credit card or cash to hand to the cashier.

This of course doesn't help with the "what is taking so long?" "when are we leaving?" "are you done yet?" ... and he is loud too. I get so embarassed that I jsut want to leave, but I have to get things done and I don't have the option of leaving him with a sitter. I am looking forward to a few hours three times a week when he is in preschool to give me some quiet and uninteruppted time - horrible, I know. I feel so guilty even thinking it let alone admitting it out loud - they are only young once. It is not the innocence or the learning that gets me - it is the constant nagging and crying if even teh slightest thing doesn't go his way.

We no longer give warnings - he is sent to his room until we tell him to come out or he stops crying and he has processed what he did wrong (hitting the dog or brother...). This seems to have helped a bit. We also tell him if he wants to go to certain places with us he has to behave. We give him a lecture before leaving the house and again before we enter the store of what will happen if he misbehaves - this also helps a bit. I have also tried to not raise my voice as much.

I hope some of this will help you, even though my success is minimal. Every child is different - ours are just strong willed.

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