help me. my 5yo is generally well behaved, social and empathetic at school, playdates, parties, the park etc; in both structured and non-structured settings. He makes friends easily and is well liked by the kids in his class and the parents and teachers.
at home, he throws tantrums pretty much every day, and is almost constantly picking on his sister and hurting her- he says i hate you, i dont like you, you're stupid, etc. he pinches her, steps on her foot, snatches her toys, etc.when he is having a tantrum he tries to hit me, bite me, kick, throw things, screaming etc. it will last for over an hour, generally.
i don't know what to do. this has been going on for well over a year. probably two years. our life if fairly stressful- we live in a very small apartment, we just moved from florida to new england a few months ago, dp and I both work alot (although one of us is always home with them), our relationship is in the pits, and dd has special needs. But i try really hard to do fun things every day- library,playdates, crafts, cooking, outside stuff, etc. We have set rules and a loose routine to our day. We get lots of snuggle time in the morning and before bed.
he is MUCH better when he is one on one with me or his dad, without his sister. I spend one-on-one time with him almost every day, for a couple hours while his sister naps. Plus we do special stuff with just him every weekend.
I am at my wits end with this kid. It hurts me to say this but i don't like to be around him when he is like this, which is almost all the time.
I feel like i am doing something terribly wrong, or else something is wrong with him! i know our home life can be a little stressful, but i don't think it is bad enough to cause this behavior.
is it normal for 5yo to behave like this? I feel like the world's worst mother. And he is so *good* around other people! i am considering asking for a referral to a child therapist.
thanks for reading. advice or btdt would be great.
at home, he throws tantrums pretty much every day, and is almost constantly picking on his sister and hurting her- he says i hate you, i dont like you, you're stupid, etc. he pinches her, steps on her foot, snatches her toys, etc.when he is having a tantrum he tries to hit me, bite me, kick, throw things, screaming etc. it will last for over an hour, generally.
i don't know what to do. this has been going on for well over a year. probably two years. our life if fairly stressful- we live in a very small apartment, we just moved from florida to new england a few months ago, dp and I both work alot (although one of us is always home with them), our relationship is in the pits, and dd has special needs. But i try really hard to do fun things every day- library,playdates, crafts, cooking, outside stuff, etc. We have set rules and a loose routine to our day. We get lots of snuggle time in the morning and before bed.
he is MUCH better when he is one on one with me or his dad, without his sister. I spend one-on-one time with him almost every day, for a couple hours while his sister naps. Plus we do special stuff with just him every weekend.
I am at my wits end with this kid. It hurts me to say this but i don't like to be around him when he is like this, which is almost all the time.
I feel like i am doing something terribly wrong, or else something is wrong with him! i know our home life can be a little stressful, but i don't think it is bad enough to cause this behavior.
is it normal for 5yo to behave like this? I feel like the world's worst mother. And he is so *good* around other people! i am considering asking for a referral to a child therapist.
thanks for reading. advice or btdt would be great.
The weekends were pretty much the same until about midday on Sundays when they would each get used to being home together and then it was back to school on Monday. ugh. They both changed dramatically once I started h/s them but ofcourse they still have their moments. 
No relationships are perfect. And I'm not suggesting you try to homeschool your children. 
Just telling you what worked in our situation.
