Is your Pre-Schooler a beast when they get home?

luvmagoldn · September 2010

My guys to to PS two days a week for three hours. They are happy when I pick them up and talk in the car about what they did that day. As soon as we hit the front door of our house the whining, yelling and mean streaks come out. They yell at the baby if he so much as looks at them, they get mad when tell them to take off their shoes. It doesn't take much.

I'm assuming they are tired and decompressing but I cannot allow them to lash out like this. Any suggestions?

hmd · September 2010

Yes, DS is into everything and in a general bad mood after preschool. No ideas. I just try to be patient and give him some lunch.

omurray · September 2010

My DS was definitely like this for the first couple weeks, but he has gotten better lately. I did notice that having a cold cup of water for him to drink on the way home really helped us.

jlw2505 · September 2010

This is totally normal and will get easier. My kids are like this some days but not all the time and sometimes, they will have 1 tantrum and get the energy out and then be totally fine. My 4 year old is worse with this than my 2 1/2 year old. SOme of it is pent up energy or emotions from being away from you or feelings about something that happened at school and feeling safe at home to express or just plan over whelmed and tired.

My older DD has always been fast to tantrum and fast to get happy after. I let her have her tantrum and am there for when she is calming down and just wants to snuggle. It goes a long way and she is always much happier the rest of the night. Maybe find a way for the kids to have some down time in their rooms or something like that to help ease the transition between school and home.

MirandaHobbes · September 2010

PP took the words out of my mouth- we even had a therapist tell us that it's normal behavior to lash out at home because he has been so overwelmed and forced to fit a mold at school. We have been dealing with tantrums with time outs (kind, gentle time outs- like you must lay on your bed with your blankie for 10 minutes), ignoring the bad behavior, and making sure our after-school/evening activities are laid back and low key. I have even recently allowed him to watch 30 minutes of TV when he gets home- he is so wired and distraught.

JillAly · September 2010

Wow- I could have written this post. Yes! My ds is always like that when he gets home from daycare. I let him do his own thing and play with his trains or watch cartoons for a little while to help him ease into being home.

VTbride05 · September 2010

As a teacher I can tell you that I always hear "we threaten to tell you what LO is like at home b/c they are horrible when we pick them up". It's normal. Your LO is working so hard all day to follow the rules, listen, be the best he can be that at home he needs to just chill. Wish I had more helpful ideas to add!

LaLaSweets · September 2010

VTbride05:
As a teacher I can tell you that I always hear "we threaten to tell you what LO is like at home b/c they are horrible when we pick them up". It's normal. Your LO is working so hard all day to follow the rules, listen, be the best he can be that at home he needs to just chill. Wish I had more helpful ideas to add!

As a teacher I hear it also and yes once Olivia gets home she is a crabby patty. We give her a cheese stick and some milk and she is fine lol

April37 · September 2010

I was just talking to DH about this yesterday! Like pp's mention, I figure it's a combo of being hungry and decompressing from having to be good at preschool. Glad to hear I'm not the only one!

abergale · September 2010

I bring a snack to dc now and give it to DD on the drive home while we chat. Then when we get home I let her fuss and just give her a bit of extra attention and extra hugs and kisses but I promptly put her in a time out if she gets mean. Then when I get her out of time out I give her a bit more love and attention. This has become a 10 min process now and she snaps out of it quickly. I haven't had to do a time out in days and she even takes her shoes off without me asking and puts her socks in the hamper

howleyshell · September 2010

It was like that for the first 3 weeks or so.

It's gotten much better since then but... I can totally tell when he's had a high sugar snack at school.

Raisins, goldfish or fruit- he's fine.

Brownies - not so much.

(each family takes turns bringing snack)

Just wanted you to know that you may see some improvement in a few weeks!

GL!

luvmagoldn · October 2010

Thanks everyone! I am going to try easing them in when we get home. I usually start making lunch right away when we get home. I think I will try having them sit down on the couch to snuggle and chill first. We'll see if that helps.

JulieandBen · October 2010

My son is like this. I found that if I fill him with snacks (healthy for the most part) in the car then he's a joy when we get home. Otherwise he's a monster.

Is your Pre-Schooler a beast when they get home?

Re: Is your Pre-Schooler a beast when they get home?

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