This has gone on for years - he's very confident and thinks he knows best. Doesnt matter what the request is, he thinks he has a better way to do it. Then it ends in tears or something going wrong. I am at the end of my tether with constant disregard for the rules. He has xbox removed for a week at a time, and behaves better, then it all goes back to constant battling. He doesnt argue with us about things, so it's not that we're battling all the time, just a complete not-giving-a-shit about others' feelings/rules etc. It's as if he has no empathy at all. He just cant seem to see why his behaviour is making everyone so unhappy. To everyone outside of the family he's a wonderful happy boy who is very clever and very sociable.
We were in the US last week, and he is the only one who is still jetlagged. He is put to bed at 8pm, and won't attempt to sleep, despite us telling/asking/explaining then ultimately warning him to try to get the hell to sleep. Last night it transpired that he was messaging his friend on his phone at 11pm. (Didnt know he had his phone in his room, as this isnt allowed at bedtime). So he's had his phone banned now. But this morning, all he was concerned about was how long it's banned for.
No concern that yesterday we had had a huge row about rules not being followed, and me being visibly upset at his behaviour, and him apologising and saying how he would do as he was told from now on, etc etc etc etc etc.
I just feel permanently exhausted, always waiting for a battle, always feeling letdown by his behaviour. It's affecting my health now, and I have a GP appt next week. I just dont know how to deal with any of this any more.