Hi! Welcome to the crowd! I second Linda in the reading of The Explosive Child. It's an easy read, not full of technical jargon and I have to say, I laughed at a lot of the examples he gave because I swore that he wrote it while sitting in my living room.
I don't know what to tell you, my biggest PITA is my 9 year old. AND he was a PITA this morning, so I'm not in the best of moods typing this. I will admit to doing my "jig of glee" when the bus pulled around the corner with the 3 of them on it!
You've really got your hands full and it's exhausting. If you feel that your depression is affecting home, school, work and your interactions in life, go talk to your doctor. You'll see by the signatures on the board that quite a few of the members are taking antidepressants due to the ridiculous stress factors that we with difficult child's have to endure.
My biggest issue is that I clear up one issue and another school starts "acting out". Quite frankly, I don't know how I did this with a full time job in the past. AND I'm sick of doing other peoples jobs for them (therapists, teachers, administrators, other parents - you wouldn't believe the phone call I get!) without a paycheck!
I keep doing it without pay because I'm getting a mansion with a full staff once I hit heaven!!!
Gotta go, the phone is ringing and I'm cringing!
Welcome again, it's a good crowd here. We laugh, we cry and we help each other through the daily grind!
Beth