Ideas on child not wanting to play with the "babies".......?

Question

I babysit 4 of my siblings (9, 6, 4, and 3) while my mom works during the summer Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The oldest child, Jasmin, misbehaves because I treat her like a "baby". She doesn't like playing with the "little kids" at all. For example, today I gave Jasmin a special project to do while the other kids were playing downstairs. After she finished, I asked her to go downstairs and play (she could play by herself or with the other kids). She threw a fit! I'm not sure what to do about it. Summer is almost over so I won't be watching them as much, but I still have 2 (plus some) weeks left to watch her. Ideas? I can offer her projects but can't possibly not have her playnear the other child ALL the time.

Answer 1

At 9 years old she is old enough to find something to do, if she doesn't want to play/interact with her younger siblings.  Perhaps she should stay in her room and read a book.  Or does she have any friends/class mates who can come over to play

You can also let her know that she is too old to be having tantrums and you may be treating her like a baby because she is acting like one.

Answer 2

Make her your special helper.  Give her a special job to do like entertain the younger ones for a couple minutes while you take a break, or some other job.  That way she'll play with the others without knowing she's playing.