My little boy will be 4 in May, he is a stroke surviver and has partial paralysis on one side of his body. I’m not even sure if this is relevant. he does not have learning difficulties associated with this.
DS is becoming increasingly more difficult. He’s lovely at school and when my family look after him but for me he is hard work. He’s better for my husband (his dad). Some examples of things he is doing:
Tells me he hates me (sort of joking?)
Hits me
throws things, sometimes at me
makes a mess by just throwing things on the floor
does something I’ve just told him to be careful of or not to do, basically disobeying on purpose for a laugh.
however is is also extremely loving to me and can’t sleep without me, tells people he only loves me and is glued to me always wanting cuddles or picking up.
Now I know a lot of this is normal kid behaviour but I don’t know if I’m parenting him right. if he hits me I say ‘no, we don’t hit’ and stop his hand. If it’s repeated I make him sit away from me for a minute or go in his bedroom for a minute or so. I tell him ‘no’ all the time, that it’s unkind. I try to keep it to few words ‘No, that hurts mummy’ I get him to apologise (his older brother can sometimes go through it too).
Tonight he tipped a bottle of juice over the sofa and floor and when my other son told me little one just laid at the bottom of the stairs screaming. I told him I was very upset because I’d worked all day tidying up (I did) and I took him to bed as he was clearly very tired. He screamed until he fell asleep.
Can someone please tell me how to handle this because I really feel like I’m getting it all wrong. I feel like I am putting in boundaries, I feel like I am giving him consequences.