I also admire your strength. I agree wholeheartedly with Marydean that the time to seek help is that moment in time when you're ability to cope is suffering.

I am completely gobsmacked by the comment from (I presume) another parent relating to a 5 year old child. I am so sorry that you had to hear such a low and horrid comment about your child.

Although we did not have behavioural issues (our family dynamic was different when he was that age - see below**) that you describe, he did cry ...a lot. I was embarrassed about it, which just makes me cringe now that I was embarrassed about my child. Sometimes, looking back, I think I may have been cruel (when pushed to the end of my tether) in trying to make him stop. I remember one time w forgot to bring his goggles to the pool. We had friends visiting from interstate and we all went up to the pool. DS (around 6 by then) cried and begged me to take him home to get them. I told him no and insisted he get in the pool without them and stop being such a sook. Gosh it hurts just thinking about it, it brings tears to my eyes and an ache in my heart. I'm not proud of those moments and would take them back in a heartbeat. I love him so much and wouldn't change a hair on his head.

It wasn't until he was a little older that I came to understand that the crying was in fact his frustration in not being able to be "perfect". Over time the crying stopped as he became more able to deal with his feelings and put them into words, but I truly wish that I had taken it upon myself to have him see someone to help him. I did read somewhere about boys and their emotions. The crying is hard because we expect them to be tough - girls can cry but not boys.

I hope you all get the help that you need.


**Our household consisted of myself, both of my parents and DS. There were no other children in the home so there was no one to really try to get a reaction from.