A Sneak Peek Into A Four-Year-Old Kid's Mind

Introduction

As a toddler’s parent, your adult mind is always trying to make sense of what’s going through your kid’s mind. We know it happens! Questions like, “Why are you flopping on the ground?” “Why are you biting me for no particular reason?” “Why are you peeing while maintaining eye contact?” often haunts your mind. The biggest issue is that neither you come to know what they are thinking, nor can they tell you. Are you the parent or the nanny of your four-year-old champ? Are you desperately trying to find yourself to talk some sense into your child as she whines, cries, or freaks out even more? Are you trying to step into her shoes instead? Then these few points are surely going to give you a sneak peek into a four year old kid’s mind.

Kid's Mind: I Don't Know How to Say What I Need to Say

I’m feeling big. Having scary feelings, and I don’t have the words to tell you how it feels. When bad feelings engulf me, I can’t think straight.

Here’s why: Toddlers feel bad just like adults do – they do feel angry, frustrated, sad, scared, confused, and so on.

As adults, what is the first thing we do when we have a negative emotion? We take a pause, think about it for a while, and then carefully decide how to react. Isn’t it? But the part of the brain responsible for stopping us, helping us think and decide how to react, isn’t fully developed in toddlers. And so when babies aged 0-3 feel negative emotions, their brain tries to drain the map, as a result, the emotion takes over them. This is when they start throwing temper tantrums.

What to do: Your little one needs your help to put words to her feelings. Labeling an emotion is one of the best ways to help them feel heard so that they can calm down and move forward.

Kid's Mind: Please Tell Me Again

When you say, “How many times do I need to tell you?” it seems like maybe you are annoyed with me. But I do need you, Mumma, to tell me lots and lots of times.

Here’s why: Your ability to distinct your attention, remember instructions, and control impulses come from your executive function skills. But guess who doesn’t have those skills yet? Your champ.

Suppose, on one side is your toddler, whose impulse is to color on the walls simply because it’s fun, and on the other side is his ability to control that impulse because you said he shouldn’t color on the walls. You will be surprised to see your little tot would instead choose not to listen to you. That’s because the two sides of their brain aren’t yet connected. You have to build a  bridge.

What to do: The answer is we have to tell it over and over again. For their brain to learn, they need that repetition. So we need to keep reminding, comforting, and guiding them because Rome was not built in a day. Every single experience is building that bridge.

Kid's mind: I Freak Out About Dogs, the Dark, Bugs, Automatic-Flushing Toilets, and so more!

Kid's Mind: I'm Not Trying to Be Difficult

Kid's mind: I'm not Ignoring You

Conclusion

So fear not, dear parents, you are neither crazy nor is your stubborn toddler is a lost case. Your baby is at a fascinating, important development stage of his brain where a potential side effect is grey hair for you. If you really want to sneak peek into your baby’s brain, you need to have loads of patience, caring ears to listen to what they say, and loads of love to offer. Rest everything will fall into its place!

What’s currently going on into a your four-year-old kid’s mind? Have you tried to know? If you already have, we would love to know your side of the story!

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