Help! My 5 year old daughter is rude.

[emmasmom18]

My 5 year old daughter has such an attitude and not just at home. She is rude to her cousins and Grandparents. I feel like I am setting a good example for her by not acting that way myself however she has to be picking it up from somewhere! She is usually a sweetie about 95% of the time but it is the other 5% that is hard to deal with. I try and discourage this behavior as much as I can. She is also any only child and I am not sure if that has anything to do with it, she is a very bright little girl and seems much older than she actually is. I could use some advice on how to deal with the "tude" that she has. Please help.

[juliet29]

My daughter also has been rude - with no provocation. I've found that taking some time before bed and having a conversation with her has been very helpful. I try to talk calmly about what happened, explain why her behavior was rude and inappropriate and suggest a better way to handle similar situations in the future. I also try to have her imagine what it would feel like if someone treated her that way because she doesn't seem to have a lot of empathy. Often she will cry or deny that the behavior happened, but she does seem to think about it and her behavior has improved a lot.

Also, if she does something really offensive, I will talk with her about it right after it happens, then take her over to whoever she was rude to and make her apologize. I think it is important for her to know that I won't tolerate rudeness.