Question
Our youngest son is going to be five in October. He splits his time between our house and his mother's house. Our households have totally different parenting styles, to say the least.
All summer, our son has been having an impossible time amusing himself. If he isn't parked in front of a television, playing on a tablet, or being played with one-on-one, he throws fits, makes messes, or otherwise acts out to get attention. We do NOT ignore our son, but we also don't cater to him either. We make him go outside to play (we have a fenced-in yard), play with regular, non-battery powered toys and follow our everyday routine. He also gets some screen time and we play with both of our sons each day before supper.
I am only worried because for the last month, our little guy has been acting very sad and depressed. He picks at his food, cries when we send him outside, cries when we leave the room and doesn't want to come to our house at all. We have been sticking to our guns and following our normal schedule. Is this the right thing to do? We think that this is a new play for attention, but it is very hard to watch. Will extra hugs and consistent behavior from us take care of this eventually?
