Anonymous wrote:On Friday when he got home from school, he yelled at the top of his lungs "You are going to help me with this right now- GET OVER HERE". I told him I would gladly help him if he asked nicely, he refused and called me stupid. I then told him that's not how we talk to people and that that he needed to go to his room to cool down, and that I would come up and talk with him about it in a few minutes. He told me "I am 7- I don't have to listen to you, so I won't go in timeout even if you tell me to". He eventually went to his room sobbing. He is disrespectful to me on a daily basis. I tell his parents and they completely back me up, but there's been no improvement and I am sick of being treated like crap by a 7 year old. How would you handle and discourage this behavior?
I thoroughly understand, op. I'm dealing with the same issues, from several children. The difference is that they've had incompetents over the last year.
The reality is that he can choose to go up to his room; are you strong enough to carry him up? If so, those are his choices. If not, give him another alternative which removes his attitude from your presence, like he can go to his room or you can go to a different room. He has d amount of time to decide or you decide for him. I agree with one of the pps about the length of time. My wording is, " when you are ready to treat everyone else with the respect we deserve, we would be happy to see you down here with us again." That puts the onus completely on him.