Really as the title says.
I have an 11 year old daughter and a 7 1/2 year old son.
Never had this issue with my daughter but my son just can't seem not to retaliate if he feels wronged or generally if someone hits him first.
Yesterday in a play area he hit too people, one for hitting him first even though the other boy was only 4 so was then hurt when son retaliated and the second time after a boy pushed him off a rope.
I understand instinct is to retaliate and believe we we have done the whole " tell me so I can sort it out with you " more than I can even begin to explain on here.
I make sure in play areas and even parks I'm never too far away so if anything happens he has the chance to tell me before lashing out but it just makes no difference.
I've tried everything from taking things away, taking him straight home to long explanations after a few minutes to calm down, apologise to the other child and so on but he just doesn't seem to be able to control himself when he loses his temper.
Very few issues at school like this and again always only in retaliation but generally he has a good group of friends with similar interests so they rarely fall out luckily.
Is there anything else I could / should be doing?
I guess the holidays have made it that bit more obvious to me as after school unless he's got a club we come home and weekends are taken up with parties or family stuff.
Thanks for any input, Emma