The "support thread for parents of 3-year-olds" has died but I need advice!

[Jacksmania]

I tried to resurrect the support thread for parents of three-year-olds but no takers so I'm starting my own. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ADD YOUR OWN DILEMMAS (after helping me with mine, of course :o).


DS (3.6) occasionally randomly, for no reason that we can tell, out of the blue winds up and hits or punches DH. He never does it with me. On Saturday, he and DH were working a puzzle on the couch, and DS out of the blue went up to him and hit him in the crotch! Of course poor DH was in agony. I tok DS to his bedroom, and gave him the ultimate punishment - a time-out with the door shut and me standing outside it counting to ten which DS hates - he gets completely hysterical when we shut the door but it's the only thing that really gets it through to him that he's done a bad thing

I tried to ask him why he hit daddy and he said he didn't know. I told him he was having a time-out in his room (door open) until he was ready to apologize. Of course he immediately started screaming "I'm ready, I'm ready" (anything to get out of a time-out) at which point I had to backtrack because poor DH - and I don't blame him - was still trying to get his breath back and said he wasn't ready for DS to apologize, or even really interested in an apology yet.

Eventually DH recovered a bit but - and I don't entirely agree with this - he was pretty chilly with DS for the rest of the day. I totally get why - I don't have balls but I can imagine how it would feel to be hit down there - but I don't think DS "gets" it yet that's it's not all ok after an apology.

Do other three-year-olds do this???? And why only with DH, and not with me? Or, thank God, other kids. They adore each other and have lots of fun but as I said, sometimes DS just hits DH hard enough to hurt. :(:(:(


Any advice?

[Esian]

My DD behaves like this sometimes with DH. I can only put it down to the fact that he's at work all day so maybe attention seeking, or the fact that DH tends to wind her up more than I do so she behaves a bit more unpredictably with him.

Whatever the reason, I'm definitely with you on needing a support thread

[Jacksmania]

There was one. It ran to nearly 500 posts and I posted on it yesterday and today and it's still dead. Here it is, maybe if we both try again we can resurrect it?