Rebel without a cause

My little boy seems to be entering a new phase for the new year, a rather rebellious one.

We have been struggling with him at night-time, with getting out of bed, refusing to sleep in his own bed, and not falling asleep until late on in the evening, which has repercussions for school. This has reared its head before; we already had a standard night-time routine including getting into pyjamas, having supper, brushing teeth and having a wash, making a last toilet visit then going to bed. We have already tried reward charts for going to sleep without any silliness, and sleeping in his own bed - which work short-term, then he really goes off them when he realises what we're trying to get him to do is for keeps.

This latest manifestation of night-time shenanigans has included using the bed as a trampoline, scattering my CDs all over the floor when allowed to sleep in my bed, and chatting and singing to himself in bed. We have had to adjust his bed-time routine again to incorporate a bed-time story (we have been struggling to get him to have one for years, but he has finally conceded because he wants us with him for as long as possible), for which he has to lie down, in the hope that by the end of the story he'll feel sleepy. Some days he does go straight to sleep, and other days he's still awake for a good hour, but it seems to be working fairly well.

So, that problem solved, last week he decided to present us with another one. Refusing to do his work at school - telling his learning support assistant "I won't do my work. I will not do it!"

At least this one was quick to address. He loves to go out on a Sunday - anywhere - the park, the duck pond, the garden centre, the playhouse, visiting family. I told him I would be asking for a report every day and if I got another report last week that he'd been refusing to try any work, he wouldn't be going anywhere.

He's clearly in a rebel state of mind, though, and I'm braced for more challenges.