Our four year old daughter...well she is bright,beautiful, intelligent, and ever since seeing her "favorite" (probably the first person I ever noticed she really wanted to emulate) teacher chew gum she is fixated on it. The teacher left the school a few months ago, but the behaviour has continued. I have found plastic, paper, bandaids...and the most disgusting to me....old gum she finds places (not hers...like out in restaurants and parks) in her mouth. Its like she loses all reason and the ability to make a correct choice when it comes to gum and things in her mouth. I tried letting her have gum every now and then as a reward for good choices and days at schools....but it does not dissuade her with chewing other things. I am afraid she is going to make herself really sick....and I am about as grossed out as I can imagine (at this point). One thing that makes me think she knows its wrong is that she does not hide it and on occasion has actually brought it to my or my husband's attention. How am I supposed to react to finding things in her mouth once again? As we speak, for the most recent incident, she called me into the bathroom stall at a restaurant and asked me to get something out of her teeth....it was someone else's gum that she found in the stall. She didn't have to point it out to me but she did.
What is going on?
I would appreciate any input as to how to address this with her so she "gets" it.