Hi, JB--
Sorry you're having a little trouble, but I'm sure it will sort itself out in the end--he's always sounded such a lovely child to me, and of course that hasn't changed, even though he's having some bad days. And we all have these bumps in the road, sadly...
Don't know if this will be at all helpful or not, but at one point when I was having a bit of a defiance problem around here, I worked hard (in an extremely sappy way, I'm sorry to say!) on making the lads feel as though they were part of a team--we had a team cheer (Team Marx, Team Marx, we can do it, we can do it, yes we can, wahoo!) and a team song (If we all work together, we'll have fun, If we all work together, we'll get done...)--it was corny as could be, but it worked, ultimately (if they'd been much older or more jaded, Mummy would have had to be more subtle, but they were young enough that I got away with it!).
I don't want them to turn into little robots for whom the only virtue is compliance, but I do want them to recognise that there are times that when for the good of the group as a whole, one must be cooperative (have to put on the seatbelt, or else none of us can go to the park, or whatever). Our little teambuilding exercises seemed to help build that awareness for them, and life became more pleasant again.
Just another, possibly too trivial, thought--does he have a chance during the school day for some snacks? It's a long day for a little guy, and maybe he gets growly when he's hungry, like my guys do--I can always tell around here if I forgot to give people something to eat between meals.
Hope things sort out for you soon--
peace
minnie
