4 Yr. Old Peeing in Strange Places!!

You know, I vaguely remember doing that myself when I was four, and then my daughter started doing it at age four too. I do agree with the other ladies about starting preschool and all that, but I found when I was gentle in my response it didn't help.
I was very stern with her and made her clean it up, and told her in no uncertain terms do we EVER do that, and that's what seemed to stop her. I hope I don't sound too much like a mean mom, but with my daughter it was the punishment that stopped the behavior.

I was all ready to tell you it could be a sign of anxiety issues or something more troublesome, but since she's telling you about it instead of hiding it (and laughing about it on top of that!), I'd she's just testing out some defiance, independence, etc. and it will pass if you don't make too big a deal of it - still yes, talk with her and explain what's appropriate, but she's still young... (if she persists, try sticker charts for treats or a toy with so many "days of going in the right place" kind of a thing...) Good luck! :)

This isn't all that unusal. When my youngest son was in first grade, I came home from work to find him and his dad waiting for me. His dad said "Tell your mom what you did". He looked down and said he was sent to the principals office and that he had peed in the tires on the playground. Ok, so I couldn't laugh even if I wanted too with the look on his face. I asked "how did you get caught?" He said "some first grade boys told on me" I said "well if the first grade boys seen you do it, don't you think that the first grade girls could have seen you too?" He looked totally horrified at that idea. The principal told me that he made him go out with a bucket and a scrub brush and that he had to clean it up. Then he wasn't allowed to play on the tires for a while.

With your daughter, making her help clean it up is a good thing. To threaten to take her toys away is not. Instead of that ask if she would want someone to pee on her toys don't threaten too, just ask what she would think. She will say "no" of course and ask her why she wouldn't like that. She will probably say that would be yucky.. if she doesn't know say "that would be yucky wouldn't it?" Then explain that her going potty in places that isn't a toilet is yucky too. This may backfire if she is ever camping and needs to go outside if you camp. Most of all relax, it is a phase.

In my neighborhood, we have an abundance of preschool age boys. They pee EVERYWHERE. My son seems to enjoy dropping his drawers the moment the inspiration hits and just marking his territory. He does understand that he needs to pee in appropriate places (like at preschool) but if we're home, he seems to think it's his own choice--I had to tell him he couldn't pee in a random neighbor's yard the other day (we were two doors from our house!). Does your daughter have brothers? Male friends? Do you camp (and pee outside) a lot in other circumstances? I guess I was just thinking how, if your daughter was a boy, this would be considered fairly normal...

Starting preschool in fall is a life changing event for her, I would not punish her but rather keep talking and telling her where she can and cannot go potty, and telling her how bad you feel when she doesn't go potty in the bathroom. Is it possible that she relates not going potty in the bathroom with not being potty trained and ready for preschool? Maybe she not ready for summer to end either.

I would say no punishment other than having her clean/help clean it all up. And just remind her we pee in the potty. My son went through this, but I thought it was just a boy thing...maybe not.