What a brat!

I have been pondering last night and all morning trying to determine what on earth got into my sweet natured little girl this past weekend. She was insufferable: screaming in a restaurant, openly defiant when asked not to do something, pushing and hitting her friend (and other children), and slapping and biting herself. The bite was pretty disturbing to watch as she bit down on her forearm hard enough to leave marks two days later! Time outs did nothing at all but deliver more screaming and slapping.

First, the backstory - we had friends visit for the weekend who have a son the same age (4) as Sophie, and we just love them all to pieces. Usually, we vacation together, and honestly the kids are never really a problem...BUT...this time, my sweet girl turned into psycho kid!

After much thinking and rethinking, I think the problem was that we were here at home with the same old "at home" rules...You know that crazy stuff like "Don't jump on my bed & hang from the pulley chains on my ceiling fan." (I'm so unreasonable.) When on vacation in a neutral place, frankly I am much more lax (primarily because I don't have to replace the furniture, curtains, dishes, etc.).

I'll need some help planning our next get together. Obviously the "No rules theory" doesn't flush with me; and the "I hate rules theory" is Sophie's personal philosophy when it comes to our get-togethers. There has to be some middle ground that seems fair to a four year old yet keeps me from replacing everything in my house. Anyone have advice?