Possessed 8 Year Old.....

[AlexMum127]

Ok, I never really had any trouble with my 8 Yr old...no tantrums, no Terrible Twos, or Threes for that matter...he's always been 'vocal', to say the least, but I jump on him whenever I can. However, the last couple of weeks he seems to have turned into a naughty 4 yr old...
Crushing cereal into my carpet, blatant lying, disobedience, and downright naughtiness...is this normal?! And, because I've never really had to punish him before, it's causing a lot of issues in that I'm unsure about what punishments work at this age, and he is too smart for some of them to have any effect! No naughty step at this age, let me tell you!!

[AmberLeaf]

Have you asked him if he is worried about anything?

[AlexMum127]

Hadn't even thought about that!! :-O
I started work 2 months ago...but I am always home when he is, although he knows he will be going to childcare during the summer hols...that MIGHT be it...
I will speak to him tomorrow, thank you for that...x

[AmberLeaf]

It could be that then? Children often 'act out' or display attention seeking behavior when something is worrying them and they arent quite sure how to express their point.

Good luck and I hope you get to the bottom of it :o)

[AlexMum127]

I feel kinda dumb now because I always thought we could talk about loads of stuff and he never really acted out at all before and, other than me working, which we have talked about, or so I thought, there isn't anything else I can think of. He sometimes mentions children being mean at school and we talk about that but he always says he finds it funny, he is confident, outgoing, talkative, expressive, forthright, and erudite, so the idea of him not being able to express himself seems odd to me, but I will dig deeper!! Thanks, AmberLeaf, xx