Monday, April 7, 2008

Running away

Here is the latest problem I've been having with my 4 year old. Not all the time, but every now and again when I scold him for doing something wrong, he gets mad and tells me he is running away. He is going to go live somewhere else. I calmly ask him how he thinks that will work for him, where he will go, who he will stay with, where he will sleep, etc. He doesn't have an answer for any of these questions, but it doesn't deter him either. I also tell him it makes me so sad when he says that and I would sure miss him if he were gone. A couple of times he has gone out the front door when I'm not looking and hangs around the front of the house.

What do you think? Why is he threatening me with this? What should I do or say? I wouldn't put it past him to really take off one of these days when I'm not looking. Kinda freaks me out. Any advice??

2 comments:

knitaholic310 said...

My kids (all three) have threatened to run away. My youngest does it at the park which freaks me out.

At home I would say to get a door chime/alarm from the hardware store. Our cost 20 dollars and works as a chime for one door and an alarm for all three and is super easy to install. Or you could get a top lock installed so he physically can't open the door.

I think what he wants is for you to cry and feel bad and just get some negative attention from you. My daughter says, "Why don't you just send me to kid jail?" I have patiently explained possible consequences of running away (getting run over, being cold, hungry, getting kidnapped, etc.,) so I know exactly how you feel (x3).

I have considered buying this watch type thing that a parent and child both wear and if the child gets far enough away from the parent both watches will start beeping.

It is probably just a phase and will pass. Maybe he just needs some more alone time with you. I think my kids threaten to run away when they get in trouble or feel neglected. I'm sure you already play with your child and read to him and all that good stuff, but maybe he just needs more of that (especially if he has a sibling).

Mical said...

I think that he is probably thinking he gets alot of attention from you when he says this...I am only basing this off of what you said in you post. But as long as their isn't a way he can get out, like for me, I have a chain lock that my kids can't reach, then just ignore it. You could simply say "I'm sorry, thats very sad." And leave it at that. Then as you continue to say the same thing every time, he will soon get bored of hearing it and he will stop.

Just a little technique I learned in a parenting class that you can use for a lot of situations. Might be worth a try.