hi everyone--
in the past month, my almost 3-year-old, who loves animals and is kind towards them, has been pulling our cat's tail, screaming at the cat to leave whatever room my daughter is in, and swatting at her. i have heard of other kids this age developing such behaviors, and i know that, at this age, my daughter wants to exert some control, plus it is triggered when i am nice to the cat in front of her, so it's partly jealousy. i definitely do not condone mistreatment of the cat in any way, and i have been very firm with our daughter: i do not leave her alone with the cat, i model appropriate kindness, praise our daughter when she is kind to the cat, and when i do see her being mean to the cat, i take my daughter and have a 1-minute time in with her: i sit with her, firmly tell her that we are kind to our animals, then when she does X, it gives the cat a boo boo, and then we go over to the cat together and make amends. i am helping my daughter express why she is being mean to the cat but also telling her that this is not behavior that is acceptable. all caregivers are on board so there is consistency.
there seem to be plenty of storybooks to help children acclimate to a new sibling, so i was wondering if there is a book or two on taking care of a cat or being kind to our pets. my daughter really responds to books. is there a storybook that explains that even though mama is kind to the cat, i have enough love for my daughter?
thanks!
note to self: when asking a question, provide as little information as possible.
to those who provided book suggestions-- thank you!!!
to those who answered with judgement, anger and cursing: while i appreciate your opinions, if you would kindly refrain from such language, that would be even more helpful. you don't know exactly how i do things or why, and to be frank, it's too early in the morning for such cyber-vitriol. thank you.
How Do Dinosaurs Love Their Cats is a favorite in our house! It focuses on the relationship between kitty and child. The "How Do Dinosaurs" series is really good in general- consider checking this one out!
I don't know any books, but if she is craving attention/jealous of the cat, it seems like a time in-sitting and talking with her about (basically, giving her attention and taking attention away from the cat) rewards that behavior. So maybe, you might want to change it to removing the cat and ignoring the child. Also, for acts of kindness, maybe do a sticker chart, with a small reward if she gets X stickers.
Here is a good article about the subject, as well as several book recommendations for different age groups:
http://parenting.kaboose.com/behavior/kindness.html
I'll be checking some of these out for us, too. :)
Found this with a quick google search ... "child's book animal kindness" ...
Cat in the Hat
Cat's Cradle
Garfield: Best of
Great question. I was wondering the same thing earlier this week when our son hit our dog. Sigh.
We have been reading books about appropriate ways to act when you're angry. You might want to check out No Hitting by Karen Katz. (You can preview it on Amazon.)
It says things like "I'm mad. I want to..." and then the next page says "That's not okay, but I can..." On one page, the child wants to squeeze the cat. Then she says "That's not okay, but I can squeeze some clay. Squish, squish, squish!"
Best wishes.
