[Flops]

Hi:

This post is for the long timers who have had their children home a year or two.

I've got a big problem and it seems to be getting worse instead of better and they aren't four years old yet. I was wondering if any of you have had these types of personality problems with your children.

My sons are rude, sullen and very disrespectful to anyone who isn't a family member or close friend. If they know you they're great, but if they don't and you speak to them you're liable to get a curse word. (They both have learned these nice phrases at their daycare.) They will not smile or be friendly to anyone who is nice to them when we are in public. Just this past weekend, at a Dickens Christmas Festival Obie layed an extended middle finger and a curse word on a poor woman and her son about his age that got into our horse drawn wagon for a ride through the festival. Talk about embarrassing. He then kept glaring at the little blue eyed blond boy with his piercing black eyes till the kid started to cry. It was awful. And its the same at their daycare.They will only interact with certain kids and will totally ignore or be very rude.

I was just curious if anyone elses child has behaved in this manner. They haven't been diagnosed with any type of "behavior" problems but I'm beginning to think they may have an antisocial personality disorder.

It's wierd because they will usually do anything I tell them to do except be sociable and wear their seat belts in the car. They seem very fearful of both of these circumstances. These two issues lead me to believe at some point in their lives they may have been left alone possibly in public and restrained in some type of a seat. I don't know if they are just acting out now or what.

I guess it's a double edged sword so to speak - it's good that they are not overly friendly with strangers but then it seems to be holding them back in their overall social development. I don't know maybe I'm just too worried.

Any comments or thoughts would be appreciated.