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-- make up stories together about frustrations that happen to kids, make it
only thinly veiled about him - use his name, even. Let HIM finish the stories
sometimes - and don't cringe if he finishes them violently on occasion.

This suggestion reminded me of an event yesterday. Ds, 5.5 is easily and
frequently frustrated. He explodes into raging fits and tearful breakdowns.
Yesterday he was hammering a planter box together and really wanted to start
the nails in himself. He got one in and then tried another. He started
hammering into a knot in the wood and his nail bent 3 times. He has a full
size hammer in his hand. He starts pounding with it, crying and I attempt to
take possesion of the hammer. I asked him once I had secured the tool, what
his solution was for the bending nail problem. He screamed kill you with the
hammer. I said I would be all gone and would miss being with him. He crumbled
into a teary heap and then asked if I would start the nail for him.

Later, after he finished the planter he told me he was just kidding, that he
was really mad the nail bent. He has now experienced the frustration of
hammering into really dense wood.

Mary