I felt wanting to cry the entire evening. Had 3 episodes of confrontations in a row with DS (10) in the 3 hours following after school. That's one fight per hour.
I feel desperate that as if nothing I do is right sometimes. If I do parenting, it would get him to react badly; if I don't do parenting, he's then just lost in his own way before turning around and blaming me for not telling him/helping him. It's been going on for quite a long time. We are doing 11+ tutoring which obviously doesn't help with the tension and his sense of independence (as needing lots of help from me - but absolutely hates being told by me that he's wrong on anything.)
I feel I can't go on like this everyday. I walked out of the house this evening in the freezing air once DH finishes his work - just to get some space to calm down my head and my heart.
I feel resentful but I can't fool myself to think it's "his fault". I know it's a stage and it might get a lot worse in the proper teen years. I'm not particularly a patient person, whilst DS's attitude would only grow. (I remember how defiant I was to my mum - full of attitude!) I fear it will break the bond one day just being like this everyday. I'm desperate but don't know how to handle.
Can anyone recommend some parenting material/books for pre-teen (boys) please?