6 year old DS behaving like a brat testing boundries

[StrawberryDaiquiriPlease]

My 6 yr old DS is really testing the boundries.

What do I do? When it's just the two of us he is ok, but particularly in front of others he often misbehaves and simply refuses to do as he is told. I am so sick of it, and he will be starting Year 2 and there is no point him continuing to go to school if he never listens to adults.

I can't see any other option than to become a yelling, mean Mum!

He is an only child and has never really got the hang of playing on his own. He always asks for the TV or my laptop and when I say no he usually ends up drawing. I have spent the entire summer taking him out, pretty much just the two of us, or with his aunty as well. Unfortunately we don't really know other children for him to play with regularly although he often finds children who will play at the park.

So, please give me your best tips, how to turn this rude boi into a polite young man!?

Sorry, you lost me at brat. He's six. I don't think anyone can be a brat until they're not actually a child. Maybe you need to adjust your expectations.

I have a nearly 6yo ds and he has been quite hard going(understatement!!!) this summer. Things which helped are a book called Calmer,Easier,Happier Parenting which i saw recommended on here and another one called How to Talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk. Both are about empathic, positive parenting - which is good because I was also turning into a mean shouty mum! It's dead hard isn't it?

Both have given me lots of good positive ideas.

We have also changed the way we operate so that he has to earn screen time which is now limited to half an hour on a week day and an hour at weekends, this is across everything - tablet/wii/telly. One of the things he has to do to earn it is spend half an hour each day entertaining himself in his room which is a skill he had never really learned! He also has to be respectful, do a couple of minor chores and so on. Limiting screen time has calmed him down on its own I thnk.

I think all the boundary pushing is normal for this age and I also think its normal to find it quite difficult to deal with and frustrating.