Nope? Just me dealing with this every single time? My 5yo acts like I'm taking away a limb when I tell her it's time to go after literally ANY amount of time at the playground. I've tried warnings, timers, bribes, reasoning. Nothing works. She just starts crying and holding onto the monkey bars like I'm the villain. How do you guys handle this without losing your mind?
The monkey bar grip is real. My 5yo does the same thing and I'm just like... these are your arms, I can literally just wait you out. But also I don't have that kind of patience at 5pm lol
The bribes route never works for my kids either - they get mad about leaving AND they're mad they didn't get the bribe lol. At this age I think you just gotta accept some public crying is part of the deal.
The bribes probably backfired because now she expects negotiation every time. Might need to reset expectations first
5 year olds are just like this unfortunately. Their brains literally can't do transitions well. The warnings and timers help but there's usually still going to be a meltdown. It sucks but it's not you doing it wrong.
Honestly? Sometimes I just tell my kid 'I know you're sad, we're leaving anyway' and pick her up (while she's screaming) and go to the car. It's not mean, her feelings are valid, but we still have to leave. She gets over it in 5 minutes.
Nope, my 6yo does this every single time. I just accept the screaming as part of the park experience. In like 2 minutes of car ride she's fine
Have you tried letting her know BEFORE you go to the park how long you're staying? Like 'we're going to play for 30 minutes then we have to go home for dinner' - doesn't stop the meltdown but she's not blindsided.
Try letting her choose when to leave within a time window. Like 'we leave in 5 minutes - you pick if it's 2:00 or 2:05.' Gives her a tiny bit of control
Timers don't work at that age honestly. Their brains don't process the passage of time right. Just be consistent - leave is leave, no exceptions
This is super normal and also super annoying. At 5 she literally has no emotional regulation yet. It sucks but she'll grow out of it
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The monkey bars grip is real. My 5yo does the exact same thing. I've stopped fighting it and just carry her out while she screams - takes like 30 seconds