The Kids Who Tells You Everything!!

[WImom]

Help with a almost 5y dcg who is in everyone's business. Tells me what so and so is doing, so and so took ____'s toy, who is in my drive way, the garbage man just came, my phone is ringing, why am I doing _____, so and so is poopy, etc, etc, etc!!


She is an only child from parents that are not together and share custody, she also goes to grandma/grandpas on two of the days a week. So she is used to being center of attention.

My thought was....Do I give her one thing she can be in charge of telling me but the rest she can let me worry about? (I could put her on diaper patrol...LOL)
I've told her "thanks", or "go play", or "I will worry about that, you worry about yourself" for several weeks now and it has not gotten any better. We also have a job chart so she has a "job" already even though she usually complains about what it is.

[preschoolteacher]

I LOVED someone else's idea of "tell the baby." I don't know who to credit for it, but another provider here as their talkative ones and tattletales go tell the youngest child... the little one gets the big kid's attention, and the big kid feels heard. Win win!

[WImom]

Everyone here is 3-5y so I'm not sure that would work. But I do like that with lots of mixed ages.

[AmyKidsCo]

My granddaughter can be like that. I tell her "If it's not bleeding, on fire, or throwing up I don't want to know about it."

[BumbleBee]

Tape a big paper ear on the wall. Tell her to go tell the ear.

Got that idea from this board.

[Blackcat31]

I LOVED someone else's idea of "tell the baby." I don't know who to credit for it, but another provider here as their talkative ones and tattletales go tell the youngest child... the little one gets the big kid's attention, and the big kid feels heard. Win win!

My youngest is our complaint department but I can't take credit for the concept. I stole it from Nan.

It works though. The littlest one LOVES when others talk and the others are validated by telling someone who cares.

As for the child who tells you everything... I would just try to stay on it and curb the unnecessary tattling but try and nip the telling of other people's business.

Here when a child starts to tell me something, the first thing I ask is "Is it YOUR story to tell?" Makes them think twice before telling me.