ANGER

My grandson is nine years old.  His parents have been divorced for two years. The child is bright and has atheletic abilities beyond his years.  He has been in counceling several times and still has temper tantrums.  He throws things and runs his mouth like a locomotive.  However this seems to occur mostly with his mother.  There are no school problems or problems with his activities outside the home.  Is he holding his mom responsible for everything mom or just a spoiled brat?  His brother who is ten is a calm child and he takes the blunt of his brother's bad behavior.  Where do we go from here?

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Without knowing your grandson, there's no way really to respond to your questions about why he might be acting out in the home. But the fact that the behavior is confined to the home indicates that the solution will be in the mother-child interaction. I'd suggest an evaluation by a pediatric mental health/behavioral health professional, with the particular request to design a systematic approach to managing the behavior in the home.

[skulker]

sometimes younger children take break ups harder then others, give him time. also maybe try not to let him have tantrums, give him what he wants to a certain extent. but dont make it look like you are, casually give him what he wants and see if he still has tantrums.

[jessies dad]

i have just moved in with my fiance. we have been dating for over 1 year.i have 2 girls (in my custody) the oldest is 8 the youngest is 6 .the  6 year old is not a problem ,,the 8 year old  is causing a lot of kaos,,,she is having trouble with the fact that she is not with her mother.i have told her that i love her more than her mother knows how to ,,but she is still causing alot of problems in this household .......spankings worked for a short time ,but that was it ,,,,,,,,is there any way i can be happy and make her happy too