My 6-year old boy has always been difficult. Since he's been in pre-school, notes have come home from teachers about persistent temper tantrums, hitting a teacher, or fighting with a classmate. We lost a nanny once due to his behavior, after she claimed she couldn't deal with his tantrums. The problem didn't seem extreme enough to think he had a real disorder, so we've never sought professional help. We just attributed it to immaturity.
Now he's in first grade and the bad behavior continues. While it's not constant, he is certainly one of the more troublesome kids in the class. As he's gotten older, he's more belligerent than ever. He's hot and cold, and changes on a dime. My husband and I walk on eggshells around him, as we cringe at the thought of saying something that will set him off. He doesn't listen to anything we say and doesn't respond to punishment or spanking.
He cries and whines incessantly. Now that he's older, he does more shouting and even cursing. He uses the words stupid and idiot and we've consitently reprimanded him for this, but he doesn't listen. Other parents seem appalled.
We're at a point where we don't want to be around him as he causes so much stress in the house, but of course love him so. We have a daughter who is 9-yrs old and has never demonstrated this type of behavior.
Any suggestions are welcome!!