Only 3 and speaking with a teen attitude...

[Samiam03]

So lately I will be talking to my son, asking him about his day, ECT and he will straight up say to me "quit talking to me". If I continue talking he will say stuff like "I don't want to hear you" "shush" and he will hold his hand up to my face and say "quiet now". He has also been picking up things that we do NOT say in this house like "I hate people". I'm assuming he is getting this behavior and these phrases from kids in his preschool. I'm not sure how to handle it.

I lecture him about how rude he is being and how he is being disrespectful to me but it doesn't seem to help.

 

[sheldonsmommy]

My son has is testing his attitude too. He's 3 in June. They're like sponges hey? It's crazy what they pick up.

Whenever he says something rude like that I will stop what I'm doing and say "Excuse me??!!" He now knows this to be my 'you've crossed a line' line, but before he did I would give him a chance to apologize then explain that it isn't nice to talk to people in such a manner. If he didn't apologize on the first try it was time out (one or 2 minutes). When time out was done I'd ask for an apology and explain that it isn't nice. I know time outs aren't for everyone, but with an explanation and some cuddles after it seems to work for us.

As for using the word hate, I strongly dislike him using it. So I say we don't use that word, but you can dislike something.

 

[sheldonsmommy]

I've heard the term threenager. I find it amusing

 

[SRTBaby]

I have noticed my son acting up too. He was watching a movie today when the phone rung and I could hear him say stupid phone over and over. I went to him, looked at him and said Excuse me! The look on my face made him realize he was in trouble, is immediate answer is I love you mom!

I noticed he does this all the time, he will say I love you mom or I didn't mean it. Often we will put him on time out when he tries to get out of something he knows he is not suppose to be doing.

 

[JASMAK]

Why lecture? Give him the consequences if he does it (time out...whatever)....let him know the new rules, and let him make choices. Kids don't listen to lectures. Can you blame them?

 

[Delamere19]

My eldest is 4 in September and he most definately has an attitude. He says similar things to the first post. I disagree with jasmak. I think lecture is the wrong word but I am a believer in explaining why something is wrong and there should be consequences to certain things like speaking to me in a bad way but if you don't tell them why they are getting punished how will they understand it? If you don't talk to them in simple terms how else will they learn.

 

[Natasha2605]

Why lecture? Give him the consequences if he does it (time out...whatever)....let him know the new rules, and let him make choices. Kids don't listen to lectures. Can you blame them?

I agree. No point in lecturing, at this age Id say it has limited advantages. Summer know bad attitude gets her a period of time out. She knows I will not be spoken to in an inappropriate manner regardless of who she is copying. One warning then time out.

 

[RachA]

Why lecture? Give him the consequences if he does it (time out...whatever)....let him know the new rules, and let him make choices. Kids don't listen to lectures. Can you blame them?

I agree. No point in lecturing, at this age Id say it has limited advantages. Summer know bad attitude gets her a period of time out. She knows I will not be spoken to in an inappropriate manner regardless of who she is copying. One warning then time out.

I agree with these two. No point in lecturing.

Decide on a concequence for rude talking and impliment it. I've been fairly lucky with my children so for but if my son is ever rude I tell him that I won't listen/talk to him unless he talks nicely.

 

[jd83]

Why lecture? Give him the consequences if he does it (time out...whatever)....let him know the new rules, and let him make choices. Kids don't listen to lectures. Can you blame them?

I agree. No point in lecturing, at this age Id say it has limited advantages. Summer know bad attitude gets her a period of time out. She knows I will not be spoken to in an inappropriate manner regardless of who she is copying. One warning then time out.

I agree with these two. No point in lecturing.

Decide on a concequence for rude talking and impliment it. I've been fairly lucky with my children so for but if my son is ever rude I tell him that I won't listen/talk to him unless he talks nicely.

I agree too. I give a firm, simple explanation of it not being acceptable to speak that way, its rude, and then he gets a timeout. Three year olds are well aware of what is rude attitude, rude comments, etc. They are not ignorant, and don't need more than a short explanation before being sent to timeout to understand that acting that way is not okay.

 

[hattiehippo]

I also agree with there's no point lecturing. You need to be very clear about what you will accept and what you won't and what the consequences are.

If Tom's rude or is having major attitude I tell him he does not speak to me like that and he will sit in time out/lose a toy if it carries on. Anymore than that and he switches off and then if I ask him why I'm cross he has no idea.