Does Your Preschooler Have a "Script?"

This is just what they do. It is fun sometimes and hella annoying at other times because they are wanting to lead the play.

Does she go to preschool? This is the time for her to play with way with friends. They do tend to plan their roles and then act them out... usually the planning takes a lot longer than the actual 'doing'. And the peer correction will often be more helpful than us (as adults, the parents) letting them know when they are getting *too* directive/bossy. :)

You're the parent, you get to set time limits on your 'acting'. Give her 30 minutes and then be firm and disengage, encouraging her to keep up the acting by herself and you'll return at such and such time.

Haha, yes!! My preschooler does this too. Sometimes he makes me repeat after him if I am saying it wrong, LOL! Funny sometimes, and annoying sometimes, I understand :)

I prefer it to the constant: "Mommy look, look, LOOK at me, LOOOOKK!!" Then when I look, he says something like: see, an airplane in the sky! And I am like: thanks baby. thats great. I was kind of expecting to witness the second coming the way you were hollering just now, but oh wow, there is a plane. sure is. Southwest by the looks of it.... LOL!!!

Hmm. I didn't start getting annoyed at mom for messing up my internal script until I was a teenager. :) We used to joke "that's not the script, mom!" when it wasn't the answer I was hoping for.

Yes and I use to get reprimanded if I got my lines wrong. It's fun to watch how they make up these stories and figure out how everything works.

Yes I remember my daughter taking far longer to set up the scene, give me my role, and prep me for my lines, than it would take to actually play out whatever little imaginary situation we were doing. Then she would get totally ticked off when I would improv. Well, you spent 5 minutes giving me 30 seconds worth of material, what am supposed to do?
;)

Your daughter sounds exactly like my daughter who is also 3. I'll play along for a while and then I'll say, ok, mommy is tired of playing your game, go play with your brother for a while. Or I'll try to distract her with something cool to play with. But often it is ALL day that we pretend she is her character of choice. Yes, it's a normal phase. I remember her brother going through this. I think it's funny how sometimes they give you your lines to say and then get upset if you don't say it just right. My mom calls her a "future CEO". 3 years of age and bossiness go hand in hand in normal childhood development stages!

Yes. They do things like this for a bit and then move on to something new.

This is one of the MANY ways I am glad that I have twins! Yes they went through the same thing at the same age, but instead of me having to do it, they played it together! They play Mommy/Baby, Diego/Animal that needs Rescue, Puppy or Kitten/Owner and Teacher/Teaching assistant. (They have both in their room at school although they just call them both teachers. They used to fight about it. They thought one had to be a kid or it wouldn't work. I told them to use dolls and stuffed animals as students. they love it)
Oh, I am SOOO Glad I have twins!!!

My daughter (now 12) used to do this -- Please, do it with her; the time will pass very soon when she wants to do this "acting" with you and you'll miss it more than you know! It does a couple of things for kids this age: It is just plain imaginative fun (and does not involve a TV or computer screen!); it gives them a sense of control; it actually is (to me) a kind of pre-writing skill--they are learning dialogue and plot, and that stories go in a certain order; and by playing it with an adult who will play along, rather than a peer who is going to do his or her own thing, they get to be the boss. And it really is OK -- in fact, healthy -- for her to be the boss for a time. A kid this age controls next to nothing in her life, so this is a very harmless and beneficial way to let her boss you for a time. Of course, you need to set limits if it's constant and you must do a chore, and she needs to learn that if she can wait and occupy herself, she will be OK. But I'd never let the chores come first -- this is going to end soon, so enjoy it, even the scolding when you don't say your lines right. Just ensure that she learns to be kind when telliing someone, "Sorry, that's not the right line!"

She'll learn to improvise (and let others improvise) soon.

I used to call my self grandma nut lol

It's normal for preschool aged kids to do this. It's a stage. They like to play pretend, and they act out things they saw on tv shows or read about in books. If you can, set aside time to play out these scenes each day, letting her know that's what the activity is, but if she does it throughout the day, remind her that this isn't the time for playing 'movies' and that while you know she enjoys it, you have other things to do and aren't going to play this with her every time she decides that she wants to. Suggest that she have her stuffed animals or dolls act out these scenes that she wants.