I have an 8yo who has been acting out so much ever since his dad left on deployment. He’s been gone 4 months now and my sons behavior keeps getting worse. He blatantly disrespects me and doesn’t listen to me anymore. He throws tantrums when he doesn’t get his way, and he ignores my rules. I’ve asked him why his behavior has changed towards me and he straight up tells me it’s because daddy isn’t home anymore. I know this deployment has taken a toll on all us, but his behavior just keeps getting worse. I got an email from the teacher today that my son went to the bathroom and proceeded to throw a roll of toilet paper around the bathroom making a huge mess. This is the third time in 3 weeks since school has started that the teacher has had to email me about his behavior.

I’ve tried consequences like groundings, spankings, extra homework, extra chores, writing apology letters, etc, but nothing is working. I’m 32 weeks pregnant and have very little energy to keep up with his behavior. What are some things any of you moms could suggest to help me out with him? He’s generally a VERY good kid, he’s very smart and mature for an 8yo. I’m just so lost right now.

*as a side note, we’ve done therapy before with him when his dad left for a prior mission and it didn’t help, so I’m very hesitant to go through it again.