Question
I need some advice on how to handle several irritating problems with my 10 year old son. I feel like all I do is pick on everything he does, but so much is driving me crazy! Am I being overly critical? Things he does-
Goes around the house making up "rude" songs like "I pick my nose with my toes"....or something obnoxious like that....
Plays rough with the dog, not to hurt her, but just to play, but it is too rough or controlling, and makes the dog bark and chase him and get aggressive....
Calls his little brother names or makes fun of him - "You are soooooooo stupid", "What an idiot" etc., etc.
Makes bodily noises, on purpose, or loudly, and then laughs....
It's one thing after another and in the course of just a couple minutes I'll be saying: "STOP THAT", "leave your brother alone", "say excuse me", "be gentle with the dog", etc., etc. I also take time off his bedtime when he does any of these things. This makes him angy, because he doesn't think that he has done anything wrong. He'll say "Well, he IS stupid" or "I'm just trying to play with the dog", etc., etc. Am I being unrealistic expecting my son not to call his brother names or not to insult him? Am I nit-picking, and how much if any of this behavior should I just ignore as typical 10-year old boy stuff? By the way, this boy is perfect at school, teacher's pet, very smart, very polite, very friendly, very happy, never misbehaves,etc. etc. etc. So why can't I get at least 1/2 this good behavior at home? Am I not punishing effectively since the behavior isn't stopping, or am I just being overly-critical and punishing too much for too many things? Thanks for your input.
