 | Hi. I have a 5 year old daughter who is an only child (and will be). She has been in a daycare/school since age 2, and is a well adjusted attendee. She reads and writes and does well with her teachers. She is very used to the school that she attends and really loves it. She has lots of interests and does lots of activities, with no behavioural problems besides the usual for that age. She seems very well adjusted in entertaining herself.
The problem? We have an electronic security system where a beeper beeps each time a door to the outside of the house, or the garage, is opened. Each time she hears that beep (unless a friend is over to visit), she starts screaming for us, and worrying that we have left the house. If I am in the bathroom, and my husband goes into the back yard for something, she will start hollaring for us, and, if she doesn't hear me, will start getting scared and crying. This is a true fear, not just a manipulation. It has been going on for about 3 months, and doesn't seem to be improving.
Each time I have assured her that I would never leave the house without telling her, and that, if I haven't told her that I was leaving the house, that one of us is just going into the garage for something. She knows this. However, she still gets very upset when the door beeps. It is a big problem for us to have to announce every move that we make regarding the doors.
Please don't suggest disconnecting the beeping. With my husbands profession as a crimnal defense attorney, we feel that we must have this protection, although we do not discuss this with her.
I figured that this has happened because my husband, to whom she is very attached, HAS walked out of the house and done yard work, while she was asleep and not told her. She would then wake up and not know where he is. He has stopped that, but she still can't seem to understand that we won't leave her alone.
Do you have any suggestions? Has anyone encountered this sort of problem before?
BTW, we use no corporal punishment, we use time outs. We really don't have to repriimend her very much because she is, generally, a very cooperative child. And, as I said, she has no problems like this at school, or at her activities.
Please advise!
Thanks,
EquiPro |
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