Question
My 8 year old has begun losing his mind. Normally a happy, smart rule follower, 3rd grade seems to be making him anxious and exhausted. Behavior & performance at school is great. But at home he gets exhausted and can no longer follow instructions, especially in evenings. He lays on the floor & becomes generally non-cooperative. Sometimes hits his brothers, which didn't used to happen. If I push him on it, he starts to cry, or scream, yells 'no' at me, slams the door. At that point, doesn't care what consequences I threaten. If I push him, he becomes more hysterical, and will start screaming or crying and, on a bad day, says "I'm the worst person in the world". "why don't you just kill me”. He has a past history of night terrors, now gone, & gets at least 9 hours of good sleep a night, but still seems tired much of the time. I’ve tried a point reward system, & that works great when he’s ‘normal’ but when he gets tired, defiant, or in a bad mood, he doesn’t care. How can I discipline him without pushing him over the edge?
