Oh honey you are not alone ~ I get told this a couple times a day by the older children in my program ~ it is a developmental thing with them wanting their independence and not to be seen as a 'baby' by their peers .... children this age struggle between dependence and independence .... they want and need you nearby 'just in case' but they do not want you IN their space or play as much any more or only on their terms .... this is why I cherish those years under two when they are cuddly and wanting to be held all the time cause they 'need you' and it goes by so FAST before they really do not want you so much so I do not know why as a society we push them to grow out of that 'baby' phase where their whole world revolves around YOU so fast cause it is a miniscule amount of time

Honestly I know it seems 'weird' to say this but try to think of the fact she does this with PRIDE it means that you have done your job WELL as a mama .... you have helped to raise an independent confident learner who knows how to PLAY and meet her own play needs .... most children these days do not have this valuable skill .... they are so used to every moment of their day being scheduled and programmed for them that if the adult is not 'directing them' they are LOST and will be standing by the adult with looks of confusion of 'what next' even with a room full of options!

I purposefully only take 'one' little one into care and have learned to use my extra 'down time' in the program to be there for the wee ones in the program and give them what they 'need' in the way of being held and snuggled and 'emotionally dependent' on me with holding a bottle or playing one on one 'interaction' games with them while they are still willing and so forth for longer than most providers would and not feeling 'guilty or pressured' to be IN the play of the older ones and to accept the role to just 'sit back and watch' the older ones unless invited into their play or if they 'need me' in that a problem arises and they are not handling it .... this is what kids NEED at this age!

Think back to when we were little and at home and what we LOVED about our childhoods .... fact is that for most of us when we were THREE we were sent outside to be with the older kids in the neighborhood all day while mom kept busy in the house with the 'baby' .... we had independence in our play and choices with the comfort of knowing that mom was there if we 'needed' her and if we ASKED she would come and have a tea party or be the monster in our game or whatever our 'thing' was but if she was not needed she kept herself busy in the house doing 'mom things'.