empathy. empathy. empathy.
since he is struggling to appropriately handle his emotions you have to guide him. someone has to do it. either you or a play therapist.
when he says that and you know why you completely ignore the killing part and say i know you must be so angry and frustrated. sometimes older brothers are not fun. they dont want to play with you or share their toy. sometimes it can be a pain being a little brother.
as you go on empathising with a calm soothing voice you should usually see him calm down.
he is at teh age when hormonal changes create really bad behaviour. sadness. upset. deep, deep frustration. almost like a teenager. not sure if this is what is happening.
when dd was 6 i told her about my bro;s suicide. so she knew about it. i also explained how devastating it was for our family.
when seh was mad she'd use it a few times. but by then we had talked about our death and how we would react and what we would do. however i also knew dd absolutely did not mean it.
during those peaks of frustration i would make sure the usual 3 were religiously followed. enough rest, an outlet for energy and enough food in the stomach. lack of any one of those would make things worse.
one of the biggest things that has helped dd is to do grieving times. we'd sit and exchange what we are sad about. it helped her see that life was bittersweet. that along with the good there is the bad and vice versa.
Follow Mothering