Normal 4Yo Behavior??

It's typical. As far as food goes, I make things at meal time, with simple snacks in between. Then you aren't preparing things all day long. I let my kids pick a meals too, not every meal, but some....like "do you want waffles or pancakes"....either is ok with me, so I give them those 2 choices. I wouldn't punish my child for changing his or her mind, but that's just me. Maybe shorten the times on things. Like if she's painting and wants to continue, but it's time to clean out the paints, have her help clean up and switch to playdough. Just a thought, but it's normal behavior :)

Pretty typical! The attention span at four is still pretty short, and kids are immediate in their experiences; whatever is in front of them this minute is what they are invested in.

You can use that to your advantage, actually. She's probably old enough to help with wiping the paints clean, or making the oatmeal, which may draw her further in enjoying the results of her efforts. I do this with my grandson, now going on five – and it enriches my own day to get into his experience from his point of view.

What I notice from a child's point of view is that life is bursting at the seams with newness and adventure, and the doing is so much more rewarding than the result. A clean paint tray is lovely from an adult perspective, but making the paint muddy is so much better (I'm an artist, and have muddied up a lot of paint in the process of making art), wiping out muddy trays is great, watching how water, brushes, or paper towels interact with paint and surfaces is quite a wonderful and scientific process in itself.

Or making oatmeal – how cool! See and feel the textures, sounds, movements, smells as a child does, and you've got something close to magic.

I just kept my grandson for the second 2-night sleepover in two weeks, and I knew that he'd be easily distracted by X while I was preparing Y for him. So I make it a "team" project, and he's right there and ready for Y as soon as it's ready to go. And I have a blast being on his team.

normal. ahhh yes.
i've done the.... ok. since you ASKED for the oatmeal and don't want it.
we don't waste food. that will be your lunch.
don't turn into a short order cook... making 4 hundred things on request.
i've turned to deciding for them and that is what they get.
works much better : )

Sorry Donna, I'm going to disagree w/you on this one, because our son was AWFUL about doing stuff like this at 4 and we DID NOT CATER TO HIM. Some kids are worse than others. If he did not eat his food, that is what he would eat the next time he was hungry. Period. He still did it. He would ask to paint, then decide he didn't want to, so we made him do it anyway. He still did it. We took things away from him, gave him time outs, tried all other kinds of methods to deal w/it. He was still terrible until he got to a point developmentally where he was able to cope with choices His K-4 teacher told us this happens more w/some kids than w/others. So it's not always as cut and dry as parents catering or not catering to kids. Good luck w/it L., stay consistent, and try everything you can to deal w/this issue.

I don't cater to my children. If they specifically ask for something, especially food, they're expected to go through with it. If they ask for something for lunch and I give it to them they're expected to eat it or else. This is why I don't ask my kids much. I pour their cereal in the morning. If they're not in the mood for it, tough, eat it or go hungry. I make them lunch, things I know they like and eat. They eat it or go hungry, period. If they ask to play with something and change their mind after a few minutes they either play with it anyway or put it away and go read a book. That's that.

Concerning the paint, if she asked for clean colors and asked to do more painting, she'll either keeps painting or she puts it away and sits in her room for a while. I refuse to cater to my children. I will be a smiling mother and give them what I can but will not cater to their whims and this they will learn early in life cuz it gets much worse as they get older.

To answer your question, this is normal behavior at this age but the level of severity depends on how much they're catered to.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HarrisburgPAChat
events and chat within 2 hour radius

You are the boss. Do what works for you and your child. If you already know she's going to change her mind before you finish then just don't do it. She'll get the drift.

Yes, totally normal. I also have a 4 year old and he acts like this.
My rules are he eats what is put in front of him (whether he picked it or not) or he can wait until the next mealtime. If he gets bored with an activity in an unreasonable amount of time he can go pick another toy to play with but not ask me to take something out. I don't get upset, I don't yell. I just tell him he does not have to (eat it or do it) if he does not want to and then ask what he plans to do instead. After vetoing any inappropriate suggestions I send him on his way. I find it helps to emphasize that he is in control of that choice. (even if it is "take it or leave it" LOL!)

Ohh yeah, my son works 100% off of impulse to the point of not typical 4yo. But I think it is more impatience for yours than impulsive. My impulsive son in the min and a half that it takes to nuke a corn dog has gone thru 5 other food/activities choices and already is over what I have made for him. The rule in our house is if I make it he eats it before he eats anything else.

It's normal. A little waste is okay.

It is normal, but it is also frustrating. I made a second batch of dinner the other night after my kids both insisted they were still really hungry, and by the time it was ready they wanted to go play. :)