difficult child had an appointment with the therapist this morning. He went in to talk to her, and about 20 minutes into the session I was asked to come in to join the conversation. After we talked about what I was brought in for the therapist turned to me and asked how I thought things were going at home. I told her I saw great effort on difficult child's part at times, but then went on to explain about how he treats easy child and how he expects easy child to play with him constantly. We talked about this for a bit when the therapist said something that I have been saying for years, and what no one else seemed brave enough to say to him:
"I think you want your brother to play with you because your can BULLY him into doing what you want, and you can't do that with your friends."
I have been trying to get someone, ANYONE, to tell difficult child that his actions towards his younger brother are the same as bullying for a very long time. Everyone, up until now, has said that I was wrong. husband, my in-laws, everyone. No one but me seemed to see bully tendencies in his behavior.
Now that the word has been thrown out there, we'll see where it takes us.
"I think you want your brother to play with you because your can BULLY him into doing what you want, and you can't do that with your friends."
I have been trying to get someone, ANYONE, to tell difficult child that his actions towards his younger brother are the same as bullying for a very long time. Everyone, up until now, has said that I was wrong. husband, my in-laws, everyone. No one but me seemed to see bully tendencies in his behavior.
Now that the word has been thrown out there, we'll see where it takes us.