I’ll start by saying he is only young - turning 5 early next year. He is in Reception. He has a side to him that is the sweetest, caring little boy, but recently I feel as though I’m rarely seeing that side!
Granted he is in school full time so the time I get to spend with him (early mornings, late afternoons/early evenings & weekends) he is most likely tired from his busy schedule, which may be contributing to the decline in his behaviour.
However, he is just proving to be so blooming difficult at the moment. Everything is a problem or wrong i.e the wrong colour cup, the wrong plate, the wrong outfit, the wrong type of bread?! He wants absolutely everything his way otherwise it will result in crying/moaning/whinging until we give in.
He can be very demanding, forgets his manners (which I always pull him up on), he responds in ways such as ‘I don’t care’, ‘you are silly’, ‘I don’t like you’ etc etc.
I do feel as though all I’m ever doing is battling him - which I don’t want to do and if I’m being totally honest I just don’t feel close to him because 95% of the time I don’t think he likes me! He always asks for his dad - dad is his absolute hero and when he is around he wants nothing to do with me.
I suppose I’m asking for advice on how to handle this… specifically the attitude, talking back to me etc. DH is so much more relaxed about it all but I worry that by letting this attitude continue/giving in to his demands he will never learn respect for us.
Any advice?