Question
Our nearly six year old son does not respond well when he doesn’t get his way. When we tell him no, or tell him to stop what he’s doing because it’s time to do something less desirable, he falls to the floor, screams at the top of his lungs, and, recently, hits or kicks us (his parents) or his seven-year old sister. When this happens, he is sent (or carried) to his bed. Once he’s calmer, we’ll have him apologize (and explain to us or his sister why he needs to apologize.) But he continues to believe that he’s done nothing wrong. He insists it is our fault he got upset because he was having “so much fun” and we made him stop, etc. We’ve tried to talk to him about accepting responsibility for his actions, but he doesn’t seem capable of taking this on. It seems to only happen at home - there have been no disciplinary problems in Kindergarten or anywhere else. Otherwise, he is a kind, affectionate, loving little guy. We are concerned because the moment his desires are thwarted, his immediate impulse is to lash out - before he even thinks about what he is doing and then it is too late for him to consider other options. This is new behavior, over the past four months or so.
