Dss hit my dd!

[TerriHatchet]

Vv shocked and upset. Dss 7 was playing in the living room with dd 11 months sleeping on her play mat, dss suddenly walked over and slapped her hard on the arm, for no reason. She started crying and he did it again. He didn't know I was in the room standing at the door. I lost it and shouted at him and told Dh I wanted him to take him out for a few hours before I said something bad to him. Really don't wasnt dss in the house tonight.

OP, I just wanted to apologise for my earlier post, it was awful and sounded very judgy.

You seem so lovely and it was nothing wrong at all with what you did. I nearly lost my rag with my 4yr old at bathtime just now and had to step away to calm down. What you did this morning was very mature.

PND is so hard, I suffered too and it is dreadful.I sincerly apologise for my earlier post.

TerriHatchet,

It is very difficult isn't it. I think you've handled it brilliantly.
Explaining anything to do with mental illness to a child is so incredibly difficult but he will get it. Keep it simple as you suggested and answer questions as best you can.
You are doing brilliantly - all of you.

Happypoobum.
Thank you. That's very gracious of you .

I'm so pleased he was able to verbalise why he did it. Going out with his dad was obviously a good idea.

If dss had been your birth child, would you have sent him out of the family home for the rest of the day? He has been naughty, but I also think that you need to put this into perspective. He sounds very jealous which is natural, regardless of them being full or step siblings.

Thanks angie. I think it was

Ps notice our dhousewives connection

duckandpancakes and op do stress that you will get better. And you will!

If dss had been your birth child, would you have sent him out of the family home for the rest of the day? He has been naughty, but I also think that you need to put this into perspective. He sounds very jealous which is natural, regardless of them being full or step siblings

Oh do keep up dear.

Disagree with previous posters. Seven is old enough to know not to hit a baby. Especially if he did it because he thought you were out of the room. I don't think it's too much to want some breathing space afterwards. So sorry OP. What a tough situation.

OP, hope you managed to get a Chinese in and enjoy it.
Your DP sounds pretty amazing and it seems you've got a great little unit between the four of you. Wishing you all the very best for your recovery

(And to other posters, maybe my initial reaction and upset is exactly the reason why I would want to do the same as OP. Mental health problems are a bastard that have plagued my life for nearly 2 decades and nearly stopped me ever having kids. Sure there's some people that think I still shouldn't have because I'm not the level headed wonder lady I'd like to be. Pobody's Nerfect.)

I'm glad you got an explanation from him because I was going to come on and say I don't think it's usual behaviour for a 7 year old. My 4 yo pushed her baby cousin over recently and was told off sternly but I wouldn't expect it from my 6yo or any of her friends, she's old enough to know better. It does make more sense if he's been unsettled by your PND though, it's great that he was able to express himself to your DH and you could talk about it.

Hey, hope you have a nicer evening with your Dss, and sorry to hear about your PND. Mental health issues suck.

My Mum once made my Dad take me out for an afternoon after I'd cut off all my sister's (very long) hair with a pair of kitchen scissors (DSis was 5, I was 7) because she was so cross with me. Dad had a long chat explaining why what I did was wrong. Went back and Mum had calmed down. I think it's a reasonable and sensible thing to do.

You sound like a lovely family unit but you're just having a few bumps in the road. You can get through this if you keep talking to each other. I think it's very positive that DSS said why he did what he did and hopefully, he can move past this. It can be worrying for children to see parent/carer distressed and they can't voice it in the same way adults can. You sound like you're doing a great job. Hang in there.