MarinaVanessa those are all great suggestions - a lot of them I've used with him but a few I might try.
I think the hardest part is that he does NONE of this behavior at home. But part of the reason is that he is NEVER challenged at home. As I've said before he is an only child lives with mom, gramma and grampa. He gets anything he wants whenever he wants it. He is catered to constantly and they admit to it.
Gramma said "we don't say no to him because we don't need to - the stuff he wants is all with in reason"
So the child is NEVER told no. LOL
So when he comes here he thinks that every toy he can have whenever he wants it. Every seat he wants to sit in, every book he wants to read.. etc....
So those instances make sense to me.
the times when he just walks up to someone and slaps them.. those are the times I just don't see coming and I don't understand what is behind it.
Today he was getting in the car seat.. he has to pass my 1 year old in her seat to get to his seat. She didn't touch him at all.. He swats at her and yells "NO HIT"
I saw the entire transaction - she wasn't even looking in his general direction.
Or today when my daughter was playing with her magna doodle and he wanted to watch. She let him watch - then she handed him the pen and let him have a turn. He took the pen thens pit on the magnadoodle and pushed her and said "NO HIT" ?????
When it is about sharing or him taking toys or someone in his space - I can usually catch those mid-swing. But the ones like I just described? I just don't see them coming. They are often times whenI'm RIGHT THERE when I have him in the same room as me so no one gets hurt. And he always stops after and smiles at me with that "I'm the sweetest little boy in the world" smile. And it is quite honestly getting hard for me to treat each new instance as a single event. By time 3pm rolls around I've had it. And I think I start showing my frustration.
This morning I went into the living room to turn off the TV
I went to walk down the hall to the play room and I notice he isn't in the play room.
I asked my dd where he was and she said "he went that way"
I head back down the hall and he is sitting in the time out chair with that same smile on his face
I asked him why he was there and he said "I bit Ella"(mydd)
I go into the play room and ask Ella if he bit her and she started getting teary eyed and showed me his teeth clearly on her arm. I asked her why she didn't tell me and she said "I didn't want him to have to go to time out again"
She loves this little boy. And so do I. But c'mon!