Q: Is 8yo the age of "OhhhhH!"?

[SKL]

So very recently, it seems every time I ask one of my daughters to do a little thing, I get the "ohhhhh!?" thing like I've just told them to wash down the entire house or something.

 

Last night it was picking one washrag off the bathroom floor and placing it in the laundry tub 2 rooms away.

 

Seriously?  Is this what I'm in for?  That makes me want to stomp my feet and whine!  :/

 

I'm pretty sure I did this to my mom.  But still.

[Rosie_0801]

I'm getting that from my 8yo. She's under a lot of stress, so I thought that was it.

 

Eg:

"Do you want me to do a hundred handwriting?"

"No Dear, I just want you to do that one properly. Just one. Properly."

 

But maybe it is not stress talking, but 8 year oldness?

 

Ugh. It's like puberty without the satisfaction that the puberty job is getting done.

[Guest]

My seven year old does that a lot, it's her personality. My eight year old is more sullen and I tend to just get dirty looks for drama instead of vocal protestations.

 

Now - BOTH of them say 'oooooh!' when I explain something and it clicks. That's their lightbulb noise and it comes on often these days as they make connections among bit of previous disparate information in their brains :). The world is a big, complex place for a little person!

[Farrar]

Dh told me before the kids turned eight that eight year-olds are the worst people on the planet. I was like, ha ha, very funny. Now that we're a few years down the road, I kind of think he was right. As a species, eight year-olds are not the best. I don't know why people complain about teenagers when there are eight year-olds out there.

 

But, hey, at least here, nine was way better.

[rebbyribs]

Not here.  But my 8yo is a late-bloomer, so maybe I'll get it next year.  She's really sweet and helpful right now.

[snickerplum]

Well, if you weren't so demanding.. :-)

I get "I wasn't trying" a lot. Its counterpart "I tried" is heard frequently, too. They work in almost any situation.

"Why are your clean clothes on the floor?" "I wasn't trying!"

"You forgot to return the milk to the fridge." "I tried!"

Good grief.

[El...]

This explains much.  Dd is almost 8.  :huh:

[Peaceful Isle]

If I tell my ds 9 to go do something "hard", he gives me the sad eyes, and says, ohh, okay. If I don't look at him, he will get up within a minute and go do it. If I look at him,...it's all over, and he tries to get out of it with his puppy eyes. He really is a cute kid. So, I just command him to do something, walk away, and don't look. It will get done within a minute. lol

[SKL]

I just thought of an idea.  The next time someone whines over a little request, I'm going to tell them to go sit down and write a paragraph about why they shouldn't have to do what I asked.  Or, they could just do it without drama.  :)

[Suzanne in ABQ]

We used to give allowance based on behavior and attitude.  My son would start each day with a dollar (credit, not cash).  Each time he whined or complained, I would deduct a dime.  For fits, I might just deduct more, or all, of his dollar.  I had to use discretion with this tactic, because if I took it all too soon, I would lose that bargaining power.  At the end of the day, I'd record his allowance for that day.  It worked to help him change his patterns of behavior/attitude.  

 

This was for blatant, manipulative whining. Sometimes, like if he was hungry (he was hypyglycemic), or if he wasn't feeling well, I'd let some things slide.   I just hate whining.