DS picking up bad habits from older kid (long)

DynoMight

We are in the middle of moving 4 hours from where we used to live for my DH's transfer to a new town. Very generous friends of ours have been letting us stay with them until we close on our house (4 more weeks). They have a 7 year old boy who my almost 3 year old son thinks is great. They do play well together mostly, but the 7 year old is really mean to him sometimes. DS doesn't really get that this boy is being mean and gets frustrated that he won't play with him when he wants to. The 7 year old is not very well behaved anyway and now DS is starting to pick up some habits we're not happy with. He talks back, throws a fit over little things, will not listen to DH or I unless we take him by the hand and make him, and has started saying things like "it's a freaking deal!" and "you're a stupid idiot". A lot of DS's behavior can be attributed to the move, the 2 month old sister, a new environment, and the fact that he's almost 3 but a lot of it is him mimicking the 7 year old's behavior. I've heard the 7 year old yelling at him saying " you don't have any toys, you don't even have a freaking house", and "if you wake me up again I'm going to punch you in the face".  DS was sleeping in the boy's room on the bottom bunk but he's now sleeping on the floor in our room. I'm so thankful to our friends for giving us a place to stay so my husband can go to work and I could find us a house but I'm SO over this boy and how he treats our DS. The boy's parents don't discipline him much and when they do, it's pretty extreme.  DH and I have tried separating the boys, putting DS in time out when he's misbehaving, etc. but when the older boy doesn't leave him alone, or keeps playing with toys right in front of DS while he's in time out, the punishment is worthless. I am taking the kids with me back to my parents house until we're closer to closing so I am able to remove DS from the situation without causing issues with our friends. I am concerned with how I'm going to get DS back on the right track as far as what is acceptable behavior in our house.

pitterpatter129

I think with consistentcy on your part and being away from the other kid, he'll stop that unwanted behavior pretty quickly!  I wouldn't worry too much!  I teach and it's funny how with "that kid" absent for a day, the entire class behaves bet

AmericanInOz

there's not much more you can do at this point, as they are being so generous letting you stay with them

but don't worry - you can get him back to his sweet self when you move

like pp said - just be consistent and he'll come around

my