Hi all, and thanks so much for support given in another thread. Thought I'd better start a new one - have hijacked enough.
Tonight has been awful. When I collected DS6 outside the classroom after school he said his first day had been 'great'. But he didn't smile, or chat, or skip. He had lots of star stickers for being so well behaved in class. So then we were playing cricket in the backyard and he got crabby with DS4 who can't throw quite far enough, and under his breath called him a f-head - too low for DS4 to hear, but loud enough for me. I called him on it, then an almost instant deterioration into a swearing, biting, kicking monster. It lasted about half an hour and then he fell apart into sobs. I asked him if he knew why he felt angry but he just said no and cried more, and hugged me tighter. This is not my child. My child is happy, outgoing, inquisitive. Before the episode last July he had never hit us, called us names, thrown things etc. How does this happen to a six-year-old boy?
I still think this is *probably* school - he has only ever been like this for six or so weeks at the start of second semester of Prep (k), and then five months later it begins again a few weeks before grade one starts. But I'm not sure, and I'm so afraid of exploring this with him and planting seeds in case I'm wrong and do more damage. So I'm wondering if we should talk to a specialist psychiatrist, but cringe at the thought - I can't shake the feeling that it implies something is wrong with my child, and I don't want him to feel that way. Has anyone done this successfully, and come away with child feeling better with no sense of being weird?
Not that I think us seeing someone would solve the basic issue, but I feel so out of my depth. Perhaps I would at least feel more confident about knowing what that basic issue is.
And I can't see any alternative school options for us at the moment - the GT school that could have taken him has no chance of finding a place for DS4 this year, or possibly even next - they're seriously overbooked. Other schools that I've heard positive rumours about are full. And I just can't afford to give up work to home school, though think he'd hate the idea anyway. I'll look more into school options as a priority - but I don't want to go from bad to worse in desperation. And of course, suppose I'm wrong.
I probably shouldn't post when I'm upset and it's past my bedtime - too much overemotional disarray and too little clear thinking. But any thoughts about psychiatrists/psychologists would be appreciated.
