My 8yr old ds sounds alot like your Ava. I do use a schedule with him...it is not strictly structured throughout the day in the sense that I have every half hour of every day scheduled, but there is a morning routine, evening routine, etc. By having things scheduled, it tends to cut down on arguments. It is hard for him to argue with me about a written schedule. My other kids don't have as much of a need for a written schedule. They follow the same general routine as my 8yr old, but are not nearly as argumentative as he can sometimes be.
Well, I always thought that if I had one "spirited" child the next one would be much easier Then we had Stephanie- the happier version of Ava, but just as stubborn! Today she was playing with some children and I told her we were leaving in five minutes- to which she responded, "Mo-om! I'm playing with my friends! Okay?!" It's a good thing I have Ava to work out my mistakes. I even made a chore chart for stephanie today...she wants to be just like her big sister. I figure we'll start earlier on her!
I want to start very simply and see how we do...getting her to do *anything* is a chore for me. I was using the books/toys as an example. If tell her it's time to get ready for bed i assume she is going to brush her teeth- no way! She'll say she forgot or that she doesn't have to because she did it after lunch. She wants to do what she wants to do when she wants to do it. I'm hoping that she will get these simpletasks to become routine so I can move forward.
gotcha. What is her age? My 10 year old DD was a hellion until about 8 so I feel your pain LOL
Robin Mothering Brian (18), Libby(17), Emily (14), Joshua (11), Jake (9), Samuel (5) and Sophia (5).
I looked around and I totally get why people felt the need to jump ship. sucks that the new owner never put anyone's mind at ease. I was a member of Parentplace on the diapering sales forum and went...