Thought hard about whether to put this in behaviour or parenting topic and have gone for parenting as I really want to sort this out rather than punishing behaviour.
This continues on from thiswww.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/850818-ds1-7-has-written-his-name-in-biro-on-my?msgid=17322845#17322 845 his recent thread.
A bit of background.
DS1 is 7 andthe youngest in year 3. He is boisterous, loud and full of energy. He is bright, intelligent and articulate. He has dyspraxic tendencies and I have recently pushed for an OT assessment for him as he has really struggled with the transition in to Year 3 - had a hideous first half term.
He has 2 brothers -ds2 is 4 and in reception; ds3 has just turned one.
DS1 has always been an early riser. His two brothers are hideous sleepers. DH is being made redundant tomorrow and suffers from depression (though I think that this may be a misdiagnosis and am hoping redundancy will help him get back on track).
ANyway. In the last few months, there has been a huge rise in tantrums and attention seeking behaviour.
I the last few days, he has written on my mattress, written ds2's name on the bathroom wall, has got up at 5:30 two days in a row and emptied loads of shampoos, soaps, etc, into the sink and and made a huge mess.
I don't want to spend my life telling him off - I am already feeling like a nag. And I don't want to use reactive techniques like confiscating DS,computer time etc the wholetime.
Been thinking about this and my gut reactions are:
- unsettled
- wants moreattention/feels a bit left out
- self confidence is low (he used to be really confident in himself)
Can anyone give me any suggestions how to tackle this.
Life is really busy at home with three small boys so I would be interested to hear other peoples' experiences and suggestions.
I feel pretty guilty tbh