Question
How do you teach a 6 year old the difference between expressing your emotions and using your emotions to manipulate people? Ex: If we tell him what consequences to expect, "eat your dinner or you have no dessert", he exaggerates his emotion, and takes it to the extreme: "What?! I can't eat anything ever again?! You hate me! You think I'm ugly! You think I'm stupid!" Or, when practicing letters that he knows and has demonstrated before, he decides he doesn't want to do them and will lay on the floor crying, saying it's too hard and he can't do it. After telling him to do his best, he will purposely name them incorrectly, whisper, "that looks like a T, but I am going to say Z." "Is it a Z? See? I can't do it!" Or: gets in trouble for not listening, then wails, "I just want a HUG!" Or: trying a 5 minute break after school... He says, "I will only do it if you use Alexa to call me when I'm done because that's the only way I like your voice."
