Do You Have This Kid?

[MissAnn]

I adore this child. Please don't flame me! I just wonder if you have a child like this.

She is the youngest of 4 and the only girl. She is quite a bit younger than her brothers. Dad tends to baby her and talk to her in a baby voice. She is 3.

Not sure how to explain this, but I'll try. She is "on" all the time. Not show offy with the other kids, but making sure I notice how cute she is. Every time I look at her she puts on this great big smile and flutters her eyes but it's phoney and I feel like I'm supposed to say "how cute" 50 times a day. If we are playing outside she will come up to me and go "boo!" in a baby voice and then give me that laugh that spells out....aren't I so cute? She tends to hang around with me. Honestly, I just wish she would be herself. I love her whether she is "on" or not. I think she gets so much attention for being the "cute little girl" of the family. I am not a cutsie baby talking teacher but I am loving in a different way. Daddy really plays it up to the point that it is downright annoying!

Do you have one like this? Just wondering.

[countrymom]

I know exactly what your talking about. I think the other issue is that the parents play with them so much that they don't know how to be a reg. kid without being told "you cute, aww thats so pretty, your beautiful"

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Yes, except that she has a sibling who is 2 years older than her who gets zero attention (despite looking exactly the same as her and being better behaved). So odd!

[Heidi]

I've only seen commercials, but it sounds like that Honey-Boo Boo thing...::::

[Happy Hearts]

I've only seen commercials, but it sounds like that Honey-Boo Boo thing...::::

The funniest thing I heard about the Honey Boo Boo show is when a guy said he watched it and his college called him to ask for his diploma back!

Seriously, this poor little girl is headed in the wrong direction via her mom and TLC.

[littlemissmuffet]

I don't have a DCK like that but I know that kind of child. Personally, I don't like it when any adult talks to any child (yes, even babies) in a baby voice. I find that children who are talked to in normal voices end up speaking properly and much quicker, and I find that children who are often spoken to in baby voices or in a "dumbed down" fashion end up have speech issues, don't pronunciate words correctly and have poor speaking habits all around.

As for the constant playing cute, I would simply ignore it. I tell my kiddos they are cute, funny, brilliant, adorable, etc on a regular basis as they do things that genuinely make me feel that way about them... I would ignore this child when she's flashing her pearly whites and fluttering her eyelashes because she's looking to be told she's cute, as that's what dad (and perhaps the rest of the family) does. She'll eventually learn that IN YOUR HOME she's paid attention when she actually does something worthy of attention - maybe a good deed like sharing a toy, being polite, comforting a sad friend, etc.

I don't think many parents realize that we are raising ADULTS, that all these small beautiful people are going to be adults one day who will be part of a large society... where nobody is really all that special.
I know every parent thinks their child is just the greatest thing on earth, and that's great - but parents need to set realistic expectations for their kiddos at an early age. This girl is not the center of attention at daycare, she will not be the center of attention in school, she will not be the center of attention in the work place... these parents are setting this kid up for some really negative reality checks as she gets older - because the reality is, most adults don't like kids or other adults who think they're the best thing since sliced bread.

[Willow]

Yes.

And this,

As for the constant playing cute, I would simply ignore it. I tell my kiddos they are cute, funny, brilliant, adorable, etc on a regular basis as they do things that genuinely make me feel that way about them... I would ignore this child when she's flashing her pearly whites and fluttering her eyelashes because she's looking to be told she's cute, as that's what dad (and perhaps the rest of the family) does. She'll eventually learn that IN YOUR HOME she's paid attention when she actually does something worthy of attention - maybe a good deed like sharing a toy, being polite, comforting a sad friend, etc.

is exactly how I handle the ridiculousness.

That junk will get a child nowhere in life, and they'll be in for a rude awakening growing up if they're never taught elsewhere that the substance of their being is worth far more to everyone else than putting on a "cute" show.

[Heidi]

Yes.

And this,





is exactly how I handle the ridiculousness.

That junk will get a child nowhere in life, and they'll be in for a rude awakening growing up if they're never taught elsewhere that the substance of their being is worth far more to everyone else than putting on a "cute" show.

Well..in all honesty, I know grown women like this (and for that matter, men, but not so much). If they were lucky enough to grow up with the looks to back it up, they can ride that train for a while, at least...

[whatnow]

Yes, I have that kid....and then some.

Oh, ugh!

I have one like that....not exactly, but she does think everything she does is cute. I or my staff will specifically tell her not to do something, and she'll immediately do that very thing, then turn around and give us that smile, like, "aren't I just the cutest thing?" She's also 3, and, in the words of her own mother, "hell on wheels." I swear she'll have a tattoo by the time she's 7. She spends a good deal of time in time-out.

A note on the "baby talk": When I was growing up, there was a woman at my church whom I always thought had a serious speech impediment. It was almost impossible to understand what she was saying. Turns out, her parents always talked to her in baby talk, and she grew up talking that way. VERY disturbing.

And...on the subject of disturbing things, I also have a dcd who, every morning at drop-off, gives his 4-year-old daughter an uncomfortably lingering hug. It's like something out of a movie. My staff and I have noticed this for a while now, and have started to intervene, "come on, trixie, Dad needs to go to work now. Come color with us..." etc.
I have no problem, of course, with the parents hugging/kissing their kids goodbye, but this is beyond what I would consider a normal embrace. You'd think she was being deployed, not just spending 6 hours at daycare.

WTH????

[Bookworm]

Oh, ugh!

I have one like that....not exactly, but she does think everything she does is cute. I or my staff will specifically tell her not to do something, and she'll immediately do that very thing, then turn around and give us that smile, like, "aren't I just the cutest thing?" She's also 3, and, in the words of her own mother, "hell on wheels." I swear she'll have a tattoo by the time she's 7. She spends a good deal of time in time-out.

A note on the "baby talk": When I was growing up, there was a woman at my church whom I always thought had a serious speech impediment. It was almost impossible to understand what she was saying. Turns out, her parents always talked to her in baby talk, and she grew up talking that way. VERY disturbing.

And...on the subject of disturbing things, I also have a dcd who, every morning at drop-off, gives his 4-year-old daughter an uncomfortably lingering hug. It's like something out of a movie. My staff and I have noticed this for a while now, and have started to intervene, "come on, trixie, Dad needs to go to work now. Come color with us..." etc.
I have no problem, of course, with the parents hugging/kissing their kids goodbye, but this is beyond what I would consider a normal embrace. You'd think she was being deployed, not just spending 6 hours at daycare.

WTH????

I hate the baby talk. Whenever I have a child that does this (I teach 4yr olds), I tell them to stop and talk to me in a 4 yr olds voice because I can't understand you. After a few times of saying that, they usually stop.

As far as the extended drop offs, I work in a center so I can't exactly take the child and kickout the parent. But I do tell the offending parents that their lingering makes things worse and I can't have them hanging out in my room because they are a distraction. I want to ask them, "What exactly do you think we are going to do to your child that it just pains you to leave them?" It's like you said, they're going to school, not war.

[dave4him]

I dont have a kid like that but i am a dad like that

[MissAnn]

I dont have a kid like that but i am a dad like that

Say it isn't so! Because....if it's true.....it's very unbecomming!

This dad makes me want to puke. Takes off her socks (while I'm thinking....she can do it herself!) and tickles each foot and uses his baby voice to say...."tickle tickle tickle!"

I tell the little girl so often.....you have a big girl voice, use it.

So afraid she will tell her dad...."you have a big boy voice, use it.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

I have parents that take off their older children's shoes and socks. It blows my mind every time. We're talking about a 4-year-old holding her leg in her parent's face waiting for them to take them off. :confused: Here they put on their own socks and shoes and take them back off without making a single peep.

[MissAnn]

Today a mom carried in her 4.5 year old. I rolled my eyes on the inside. Then comes in the dad I was speaking of in my original post. He sits down and takes off his daughters shoes and puts on her house shoes. All of the other kids put on their own house shoes. I get down low and say to his dd.....you know why you should put on your own house shoes? Because dad puts them on backwards. Dad looks and then bends down to correct it....I say...she can do that herself. He says...but she's my baby and I like to do htis for her. Funny thing....the mom of this girl told me I'd be amazed at her self help skills. Yes, I am amazed that at 3 years old she has no idea how to put a coat on....even with the flipping it over your head method.

[dave4him]

LOL okay im not nearly that bad.... oh shoot i heard a flush