My 4 Yr Old Makes up Stories

You need to find out what she's been watching if she was able to make up a story bad enough to get CPS involved.

Welcome to mamapedida, H.!

Your daughter is 4. She is learning words have power. She doesn't get the consequences of her stories. That's the hard part.

Nothing wrong with having an imagination, however, she doesn't grasp imagination and FACTUAL.

What did CPS say when they spoke with you and your daughter? Where is her daddy in all of this?

The TV shows she watches need to be changed - more like Clifford the Big Red dog and Sesame Street - not anything else.

She also needs to learn to differentiate between FACT and FICTION. She's young - but she still needs to understand. It's a hard lesson. If she told the teacher a story? The teachers are MANDATORY reporters - if something is found out later that they knew? They can be held responsible as well. Don't be mad at the teacher for telling.

Ask CPS for help. Ask CPS and your pediatrician for references and suggestions on how to help your daughter differentiate between fact and fiction...

It's natural to a degree.
Kids this age don't have a concept of what 'the truth' is.
I don't know what she could have said that would result in a CPS check up (and I don't want to know) but if she's being exposed to ,mature themes on tv or elsewhere it might be wise to make sure that doesn't happen anymore.
This is why kids watch Sesame Street or other kids shows.
If someone else is exposing her to mature content, then it's up to you to put an end to that.

Kids that age (and in to 2nd grade) have no inner editor - they blurt out what ever crosses their minds - fantasy and facts - it doesn't matter.
Once while waiting after school at pre-school for my son to put his toys away before we could leave his friends were chatting with me.
A boy decided to tell me his daddy has a big peepee.
Okay.
Nice to know.
(And I'm glad the kids dad wasn't picking him up from school right at that moment.
I can just imagine "Yes. thank you Jeffery but we don't need to be discussing dads peepee right now".)
And probably 'the truth' but kids just say these things in conversation with no thought about what they are saying.
A phrase our mom used when warning other adults to watch what they say around the kids was:
"Little pitchers have big ears"
and anything kids hear can and does get repeated to ANYONE who'll listen.

If CPS was called, it's not HER fault. You need to find out why they were called, and then find out where she is being exposed to the issue that was reported. Because most kids make up stories, but they aren't CPS-worthy. I hate to go all Worst-Case-Scenario on you, but you need to figure out what real-world stuff influenced a "story" that got CPS involved... cause sometimes there's a grain of truth to those stories and you need to protect your kid and get her out of negative situations.

If someone called CPS and reported you, CPS will investigate. They will look into it and find out what, if anything, is going on that puts your daughter in danger. Whatever your daughter said or did caused one of her teachers to believe that something at your house was unsafe. But if nothing is unsafe and you aren't doing anything to your daughter that would harm her, you are fine.

If CPS investigates and finds that your situation is perfectly safe, they will say that in the report.

What your daughter is doing is perfectly normal. Anyone who teaches preschool or works at a daycare knows that kids that age do this. They hear things, they watch tv, they make up stories. It's normal, and it's actually very, very healthy. It's good for them to use their imagination.

So you need to separate the two issues. Her story telling isn't the problem. What she said in this specific case is being taken seriously. But again, CPS will look into it. I believe (though I don't know for certain) they will also speak to you at some point. I don't know that they can bring any kind of charges against you unless they speak to you and ask you some questions.

You didn't provide enough info to really get a sense of what kinds of things she is making up or where she is hearing these 'stories'. To have CPS call? that's highly unusual - how is she getting this info? My 4 year olds were into Elmo.

If she's saying mommy is mad and hits me etc. then if you are spanking her, etc. then realize kids say it like it is.

I had a child who exaggerated and told stories. They were usually things that were outrageous like "I found 100 dollars once". Sure you did. Lol. However, it was a phase, it was at a bit older age, and we just explained that friends don't like it when you embellish stories or basically lie to get attention. We talked about why they felt there was this need to tell lies - should be comfortable enough in yourself to just be yourself. No need to create stories for attention.

Telling stories is totally normal 4 year old behavior. The key is to make sure she's not exposed to inappropriate things. She can't make up stories about things she doesn't know about. So, while you may like to watch CSI, you need to wait until she's asleep in bed to turn it on.

Welcome to Mamapedia, H.! This is your first post with us, so we don't have any history or prior questions to use as a launching pad, and you give very little info about what the story was that triggered a CPS investigation. So we're just guessing here. If you can click on "edit my question" and add more details, that will help others to give you meaningful responses.

It's totally natural and normal for children this age to make up stories. In fact, we should encourage such creativity in our children, where they take experiences from their lives or from TV and then turn them into plays and skits and stories.

If she's 4, I assume she's in preschool. Teachers are mandated reporters so it's possible that a call was made (by law, it had to be) and that it generated a check-in by CPS. It's hard not to feel insulted by that, but in fact, I think you'd want a teacher to report something that was suspicious. If your daughter were ever injured or touched inappropriately by another adult, you'd want her to speak up. Now, CPS has heard zillions of these stories, and those overworked case workers have to check out every one. But I think it's a huge stretch to say that you are "in trouble" - if there are no grounds for this, then the investigation will be ended very quickly. I can't imagine what your daughter said since you've given no details, but you say she got something off TV. So, if she's watching something about a child being hit by a parent or by a parent's significant other, or if she's listening to the news while you're watching it, that's a huge problem that only you can fix. No one in your house should be allowed to watch anything that shows or discusses violence or sexual matters when a 4 year old is within earshot. So if that's a problem, make a new rule immediately. You cannot ask a 4 year old to understand adult matters like "Mommy is in trouble." So work with her on being able to distinguish what is "real"and what is "pretend." If she tells a story, ask if it's real or pretend. She doesn't have to stop pretending on all levels, and she shouldn't, but she does have to learn the difference.

What is she watching that she could make up a story from that could get you in trouble? All my kids watched at age 4 were cartoons like Max and Ruby or Octonauts or My Little Pony. I think you should take care that your 4 year old isn't watching something for older kids/teens/adults. If CPS is called and you did nothing wrong they will interview you and they will figure out that you did nothing wrong. By the way, it's very normal for an imaginative 4 year old to make up stories.