The Competition Is Ridiculous!

[Josiegirl]

I'm taller, faster, older, better, smarter, on and on!! I've got the most toys, my mom's smarter than yours, my dad can fix all my broken stuff, he's funnier than yours, my mom will be here first, I can find more bugs and they're bigger, stronger, faster than yours,......

I'm the fastest runner in the world! Oh yeh, I'm faster, watch this! Substitute fastest runner with any other description and you've got the main conversation between the 4 and 5 yo that goes on all day long.

Why don't they ever compete to see who can sleep longer, or pick up more toys or be quieter the longest or use the most manners?
If it wasn't so aggravating it'd be funny.

[Rockgirl]

It’s the same here! It’s exhausting, huh?

[Cat Herder]

I used to think being a kindergarten teacher would be amazing.

I don't, anymore.

[Blackcat31]

Why don't they ever compete to see who can sleep longer, or pick up more toys or be quieter the longest or use the most manners?
If it wasn't so aggravating it'd be funny.

....because there is no "reward" for those things.

But if you make those things the things you want the kids to strive for, they'll pick up the competitive part on their own.

You'll be the real winner though!

I reward the kids that don't disturb others and rest quietly over rest period. I reward and praise the heck out of the kids that use manners without being prompted or reminded and I give out tons of stickers and little bits of happiness (mini-M&M's) for those kids that clean up the most or without reminders, those kids that help and assist others without reminders or prompts.

The competition here is pretty stiff too but thankfully the things they are competing for are massive WINS for me, the parents and society over all. ::

[storybookending]

My one that I lost to Kindergarten last Fall already was EXACTLY like this. It drove me nuts. He was also 2 years older than everyone else in care and I think it made him more mad that they didn’t care if he was bigger/faster/stronger ::

I am thankful that (so far) there is no competition between my older girls yet. They are both 4 and about 6 weeks apart. They are off to 4K in the Fall so will be gone in the mornings. I think it helps that one is a natural leader and the other is more of a follower by nature. Talk to me in two years when my current 2’s are 4 and I think I’ll be singing an opposite tune. I can already see the competition with them. They are either going to be the best of friends/partners in crime or like the two the OP is describing.. there will be no in between.. it’s gonna be one extreme or the other.

[Mike]

My one that I lost to Kindergarten last Fall already was EXACTLY like this. It drove me nuts. He was also 2 years older than everyone else in care and I think it made him more mad that they didn’t care if he was bigger/faster/stronger ::

I am thankful that (so far) there is no competition between my older girls yet. They are both 4 and about 6 weeks apart. They are off to 4K in the Fall so will be gone in the mornings. I think it helps that one is a natural leader and the other is more of a follower by nature. Talk to me in two years when my current 2’s are 4 and I think I’ll be singing an opposite tune. I can already see the competition with them. They are either going to be the best of friends/partners in crime or like the two the OP is describing.. there will be no in between.. it’s gonna be one extreme or the other.

You have 2 years to work on that. ::

[storybookending]

You have 2 years to work on that. ::

Hah the two trouble makers in question are distantly related but in a family that’s close enough to where even though they are 3rd cousins they still see each other a good deal outside of daycare. Any time they have a family camping weekend or a holiday at great grandmas I get stories from both sets of parents about how they just feed off of each other and they don’t know how I handle the two of them plus the others. They’ve already decided they cannot be in the same class in school haha.

[Mike]

Hah the two trouble makers in question are distantly related but in a family that’s close enough to where even though they are 3rd cousins they still see each other a good deal outside of daycare. Any time they have a family camping weekend or a holiday at great grandmas I get stories from both sets of parents about how they just feed off of each other and they don’t know how I handle the two of them plus the others. They’ve already decided they cannot be in the same class in school haha.

uh oh ::

[storybookending]

uh oh ::

I don’t think they’re that bad but of course at daycare we have a schedule, rules and boundaries. Cousin Billy’s first birthday free for all I can see how they are too much when together for the parents.

[Baby Beluga]

....because there is no "reward" for those things.

But if you make those things the things you want the kids to strive for, they'll pick up the competitive part on their own.

You'll be the real winner though!

I reward the kids that don't disturb others and rest quietly over rest period. I reward and praise the heck out of the kids that use manners without being prompted or reminded and I give out tons of stickers and little bits of happiness (mini-M&M's) for those kids that clean up the most or without reminders, those kids that help and assist others without reminders or prompts.

The competition here is pretty stiff too but thankfully the things they are competing for are massive WINS for me, the parents and society over all. ::

Totally!

I had one who was a mess at any meal times. Would NOT listen. I started giving out 1 chocolate morsel for those who listened...,magically the one not listening starting policing herself. ::

[daycarediva]

Mine are just story tellers lately.

So-and-so is pushing me.

SO AND SO IS NOT EVEN HERE.

Had a dck go home and tell all sorts of lies about the new kid. New kid starts NEXT MONTH.

[Annalee]

My issue right now is my four oldest plus have been here the longest are testing the waters. I have enrolled dcb3 and a sibling dcb5mos so I allow the newbies to become comfortable/explore and talk with them lots in the beginning when they enroll but the oldies are acting out a little during all of this doing little things that they know isn't being a role model which is what I call them. (leaning back in chairs, yelling loudly, etc.). Normally when I enroll newbies, it is challenging in the beginning but usually not quite this bad. :confused: