Morning all!
I'm needing the advice of the masses after another particularly grueling morning.
My ds5 if normally a lovely little boy, very loving and carefree.
About 5 weeks ago he started to back chat at times, being rude to adults eg. calling my dm a "stupid old woman" when asked what he would like to drink, or telling me to "shut your face you little b**rd" when I was asking him to stop hitting his dsis.
I must stress he NEVER hears language like that at home so I can only assume he has heard it at school.
Since then things have got so much worse. Every word out of his mouth is an insult. He hates me/dad/dsis, wishes we were all dead. He non-stop fights with his toddler dsis, refuses to get dressed, completely ignored anyone who speaks to him...basically he has become a really unhappy little boy. He doesn't want to go to football club anymore, doesn't want to go swimming, hates school.
We have tried ignoring bad behaviour and rewarding good, tried reward charts, I keep telling him we all love him very much- lots of cuddles. Lately though I'm at the end if my rope and I have been losing my temper and shouting which I know wont help. Its hard though when we are late for school/work because for the 3rd time in 3 days he refuses to get dressed.
I have spoken to him about why he is so cross- he either says he doesn't know or that we all are mean to him 😥
I have spoken to his teacher- he is doing well at school, lots of friends. No big life changes etc.
I'm wondering if it could be due to getting excited about Christmas and not knowing how to handle his feelings??? Or is this just his normal behaviour from now on???
I just dont know where to go from here...he's sad, I'm sad and its affecting the whole family. Any advice would be appreciated x