Help. My 10 year old DD is turning into a teenage monster

Mado

... and I don't know how to handle her...

This morning she arrived in the kitchen in tears because I hadn't woken her up early enough (there was still 45 minutes left to have breakfast/ brush her hair and teeth... she was dressed).
Then when it was time to go to school she was screaming and crying that her bedroom was a semlly mess (the decorator has fixed her wall and repianted so there is still loads of dust and it does smell in her bedroom).
The tantrum came out of the blues and was just as bad as when she was 2.
We normally get on quite well, she likes school and has plenty of friends.
I assume she is getting hormonal as she is a tall and solid built girl.

What do I do?
She is certainly not mature enough for that....and I am certainly not ready to deal with that kind of behaviour....:eek:

(Any volunteer to "adopt" her for the next couple of years? I'll take her back when she is nice again )

supersavershal

I dont want to alarm you but could she be premenstrual.I work with a children and young people and have noticed there are a lot of girls starting their periods earlier, Ive met a few who are ten.At that age its difficult for them to deal with how they feel, is there any signs she may be starting her periods soon?I was ten when I started mine, I was well built (but short) but had boobs sprouting and some unwanted changes down below.

findingmyownway

awww, the poor thing. Her emotions are all over the place - she probably doesn't know why things are suddenly getting on top of her either.

Best thing to do is be supportive, be there when she wants a cuddle and a shoulder to cry on.

Buying her an alarm clock and helping her clean up her room would also show her that you take what she says seriously and would give you an oppotunity to remind her she only has to politely ask for such things, not work herself up into tears about it.

Keeping the channels of communication open is the key to surviving teenagers!

Mado

I assume she will start her period in the coming year.
No boobs yet and last time I saw her in the bath no "hair in funny places" as babette Cole said , but she asked to have deodorant when she plays sport (and yes, she smells without it...).

AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH
It wasn't in the instruction manual the midewife gave me....:rotfl:

Mado

findingmyownway wrote: »

helping her clean up her room would also show her that you take what she says seriously and would give you an oppotunity to remind her she only has to politely ask for such things, not work herself up into tears about it.

Keeping the channels of communication open is the key to surviving teenagers!

Actually, I dusted her room before going to work (when she was at school) and I wrote her a note to say that I was sorry I lost my rag but that throwing herself on the floor was never going to be helpful and that no matter what she does, I always love her even if I don't like her behaviour.

bunty109

Mado wrote: »

I assume she will start her period in the coming year.
No boobs yet and last time I saw her in the bath no "hair in funny places" as babette Cole said , but she asked to have deodorant when she plays sport (and yes, she smells without it...).

AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH
It wasn't in the instruction manual the midewife gave me....:rotfl:

Needing the deodorant may be the first sign. My experience was having to do this earlier than 10 and we do get the odd hormonal outburst. Have you given her a talk about periods etc? I feel it helped my DD understand a bit more about why she felt like she did and made her feel a bit more grown up.

Mado

bunty109 wrote: »

Needing the deodorant may be the first sign. My experience was having to do this earlier than 10 and we do get the odd hormonal outburst. Have you given her a talk about periods etc? I feel it helped my DD understand a bit more about why she felt like she did and made her feel a bit more grown up.

We had a few chats on the subject.
But I don't want to push her into what she doesn't feel ready to know.
So I have told her that she can ask anything but I'd rather she asks.

bunty109

Mado wrote: »

We had a few chats on the subject.
But I don't want to push her into what she doesn't feel ready to know.
So I have told her that she can ask anything but I'd rather she asks.

That's fair enough. My DD was fairly curious so it was less of an issue.

Penny_Watcher

I am the owner of a 10 year old hormone monster :eek:

She's tall, but no lady curves yet. Earlier this year we bought "The Care & Keeping of You" amazon linky and read it together. It's aimed at pre-teens and covers all the changes her body will go through in the next couple of years (boobs, periods, hormones etc) in a light-hearted format. It's published by American Girl Library, but it's not obviously US biased. No Sex Ed though - we'll save that for a later date.
The look of horror on DD2's face was worth the cover price itself. :eek: :rotfl:(bad mother! - stop giggling now :rolleyes:).

Sola

We consistently had the screaming ab dabs at 10 with my stepdaughter (not helped by her brother winding her up) and she started her periods at 11.

I'd buy her an alarm clock and help her clean her room.

3KIDSNOMONEY

my daughter is 11 and has always been a little bit difficult but it has definitely got worse. I think she will start her periods soon and have given her some pads to put in her school bag in case. Not sure that we can put it all down to hormones but they definitely don't help. For me, i am not looking forward to her growing up and changing.