Reply To: Going off the Derech

Derech HaMelech-You sound like you know psychology as well! You are correct (this is actually quite Freudian) that my son is competing with my husband, and is trying to prove that he is a man. I tell this to my husband all the time, since this struggle is universal and not specific to our situation, nor to religion. But it’s still hard for my husband to ‘respect’ his behavior and relinquish part of his title, when my son is severely disrespectful and immature. I tell my husband to ‘hear’ the struggle and not my son’s words, but it’s a process..and he is getting better. My husband does look for those moments, but they are too few.

Good point about the tension. I never really thought my son might feel guilty, and that that could be triggering the angry outbursts. I will try to keep things in check..

Thanks for all the advice!