Recently, my sleep deprived (a whole other post) 8 year old has been lashing out a little - over emotional and over tired. Sadly, his little brother has been bearing the brunt of things, though I've certainly copped a fair bit of attitude as well.
Anyway, after an absolutely terrible Thursday, we had words and spoke about the effect this was all having on Sam. I thought we'd been clear and come to an agreement about being kinder to his brother; understanding that Samuel just craved his big brother's attention and that Alexander needed to be patient with him.
All good. A pat on the back for being a super-Mum and handling the situation so well.
Until this morning, only an hour or so after he had woken - boys fighting again. So, I sit him down and explain my disappointment in his actions. "Alexander - you promised. You promised you'd make more of an effort to play with Sam and to be patient with him". A look of incredulity crosses his face. "No I didn't. I didn't promise that at all". "You remember, last night when we were talking about it, you said you'd be nicer to Sam".
"No. I said I'd try to be nicer. I know I didn't promise. Because I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it. And see - I couldn't. That's why I didn't say 'I promise'".
Yeah. It's almost hard to fault that logic. He'll be a lawyer yet.
His logic is actually very good.
ReplyDeleteMy sleep deprived child is only 4, which means she's still small enough to be physically placed in her bedroom when she starts lashing out.
I've been recommended Melatonin for sleep issues - I'm asking my doctor about it this week.