Emotional 3Yr Old

I have two girls, 3 and 6, who are both very sensitive. I am also pretty sensitive, so maybe they got it from me?! Once I found my older daughter sobbing in her room listening to a Celine Dion lullaby CD. I walked in and she burst out "IT"S JUST SO SAD!" (she was about 4 at the time). She has always also been very concerned about other people's feelings and can "read" people really well. My little one makes comments about non-living things, like when she sees a dead flower she'll say "poor little guy". They both cry easily (from movies, music, or having their feelings hurt) and hate feeling like someone is upset with them. I think that some kids, just like some adults, are more sensitive and emotional than others. Being extra sensitive can also be a sign of high intelligence too.

My son is turning 4 this week and he's that way. We can't watch any movies because he's very sensitive to any conflict. I killed a spider the other day (didn't realize he was watching) and he just LOST it- "you need to keep them in nature! That was mean!" He doesn't really know about death, but he did really mourn the death of dinosaurs! When he found out the were extinct he'd suddenly burst into tears in the middle of an activity and say, "why did the dinosaurs die?"
I don't know if it's normal- his friends are not like this. I feel like he needs to toughen up, but it's also sweet that he's so sensitive. I do need to shelter him a bit from things and be aware of things that will bother him. They are all individuals! I know they talk about "emotional intelligence"- maybe your daughter is at the top there.

Not my 3 year old! Maybe she's a little more sympathetic than others. This may not be a bad thing. Being compassionate is a great quality! My daughter watches spiderman and says, "Oh yeah, he's beating up the bad guys because they're trying to hurt him!" Lol. Or, "Why's the Hulk so angry?" (can you tell she watched a lot with Daddy???)

my 3 yr old is the same, they were cutting down trees under the powerline and shredding them and she was really upset that they were shredding the trees. I explained to her that it was ok, the trees were too tall and would get tangled in the powerlines. She was still upset but I think an explanation as to why helped a bit. I think we have compasionate kids who look deeper into things than others. We have to be a little more sensative to them.

She just might have that kind of personality - all kids are different, even siblings in the same house with the same parents. I remember being 5 and 6 and visiting my grandmother's house for the weekend and sobbing my eyes out when it was time to leave. I cried when I was 10 and saw "E.T." for the first time in the movie theater. Being sensitive and being compassionate and having empathy for other living things shouldn't be a bad thing, although I can see where it can be rather trying at times. My daughter just turned 4 and we've been on a number of trips and family vacations in the past year. She always gets sad about leaving our house because she is going to miss our dogs and cats and wonders if they will be okay. Then she gets sad about going home because she's had so much fun on the trip. On the most recent trip we took, she was sad about the trip being over before we had even left. She gets attached to every hotel room we've ever stayed in and even got attached to a rental car we had and cried because she was going to miss it. I think she just associates these things with the fun of traveling and the experiences we had and gets very sentimental. She also is very sensitive to my moods and if I say anything to her where I sound even the least bit negative (irritated, etc.) she thinks I am mad at her. She is just a gentle sensitive soul and I am sure that as she gets older she won't be quite as dramatic about everything, but for the time being I try to acknowledge her feelings as much as possible and not dismiss them.

My mom was huge on being one of those super-sensitive emotional types. One time we went to a movie together and one of the previews for another movie coming out got her crying.