agh!!!! my 7 year old

[IWannaLoveAgain]

HELP!

My (almost) 8 year old has something smart to say about EVERYTHING I ask him to do.. I mean EVERYTHING. Its usually a huff and a puff and a stomping to his bedroom situaton. But sometimes its a huff and a puff and a smart ass question or comment!

I get onto him about ths EVERY time he does ths- but its to the point now that everytime we have a conversation, it ends in me getting onto him and him being mad at me.

Any help on what I can do to nip this in the bud?!?! I have a 4 year old who's quickly following in his big brother's footsteps!

[crazytimes3]

They are definitely hard to deal w/at that age.  You might try making a short video of him doing it and play it back, explaining that he is speaking to you in a disrespectful way.  That is what I told my 7 year old and asked him if he would like me to speak to him like that, and he realized it was wrong and apologized.  Now, when he starts being disrespectful I ask him if he wants me to speak to him the way he is speaking to me. 

I explained to him that everybody in this family has to do a little, so one person isn't doing everything, and IF we get what needs to be done, done, then we can have some time to play computer games, video games, or watch TV.  We have missed some TV/game time before, and I am not a strict parent, I just refuse to do it all by myself.

[heather644]

I like the idea of taking a video. I have taken my whiney crying pouting "i dont wanna go to bed" 6 uo to the mirror and made him look at himself. All red in the face. Tears running down. Pouty mouth crossed arms. He was surprised. He quit whining about bed time then.

As far a strip the smart attitude, i had much the same problem. I too corrected every single time...forever. he should have picked up on it. He didnt. I finally started telling him he hurt mu feelings and i was too tired for that. He had to go to bed cuz i was with too tired to make supper and take care of him. He was devistated several times having to go to bed with out supper. .....it was not over tho. He picked up on the fact that after supper he only had to go to bed...not be hungry. Soooo he lost his entire toy shelf. I pulled it into the hall. He was devistated again. Next day i gave it back. Explained clearly that he would have a nice supper and play time if he was nice to me. If not....he would not have a happy time at home.

When he is nice i praise him. Tell him how he is making me happy. Sometimes i tell him i am so happy that he is a nice boy and he will grow to be a nice happy man. I remi d him that i could take everything again and he is making a good choice.

You must have control over your house and child or you are no longer raising him.

[ermka]

Mines 7 too.. and pretty much the exact same way, I just keep hoping it's a stage, lol. I have no advice, but good luck!

[janitablue]

Mines as well but I he inherit is smart mouth from his dad. Good luck

Quoting ermka:

Mines 7 too.. and pretty much the exact same way, I just keep hoping it's a stage, lol. I have no advice, but good luck!

[aetrom]

I started charging my 6 year old for .10 for bad attitude. First day I earned .50 (oh and if he does not give it himself I take .30. That way he is responsible for it.) the following days .10 or less! I give him the first on a warning/reminder. It helped a ton. Before I think I could have made 2$!!!

[cuasterose]

I'm going through the same exact thing with my seven year old. Yikes! Lots of time outs and privileges lost for disrespectful behavior. I've been having to keep a tight reign on him lately because he's really testing the boundaries. It can be pretty exhausting at times. Yesterday was a particularly awful day filled with mouthiness and tantrums. I stuck to my guns but at the end of the day broke down in tears! As for my son, he eventually gets the message and stops, especially when he sees that all his attitude earned him was a very boring evening and having it go to bed early. I love him very much and I know this is a phase, but I can't wait until he grows out of it! Good luck everyone. Glad to know that I'm not the only one facing this challenge.