OK, so both kids were told they could go away for the wknd with their grandma and cousins- contingent on good behavior. Neither have been angels but ss has been his normal rotten self with the false angel exterior he want outsiders to see. I gave both kids another chance. At breakfast ss refused to eat, said my food was disgusting and cried loudly as if he had been had been hit ..this went on for an hr. I told him if he ate i would let him go outside and play etc etc (bribes) i never bribe my son, spoon feeding would have commenced by then...so finally I told him if you dont eat, no trip this wknd. He proceeds to start screaming " i wanna go with grandma..i wanna go!!!. Ummm NO, i dont put up with this shyt from my own kid, but since none of my friends kids ive spent time with, my son, or my ex's 2 kids never acted this way I feel ill-equiped to know what to do. Like he has all the power and everyone lets him. So after an hr of him bargaining ( he always tries to make the rules and bargain his way out of punishments) and im the bad guy though HE is the one mis-behaving....I am going to start taping his episodes of ( falling on the floor, going outside and crying loudly tho he wasnt crying inside the house etc) so certain family certain familiy members see im not exagerating. Tired of not being believed! SO anyway finally i told him i was tired of playing his game. I threw the food away and told him he could play in his room or out back..he choose outside. I made it clear his trip was off. He skips outside...stands in the back yard and starts whaling for all the neighbors to hear (not the 1st time). I spoke with my older son and asked if he wouldnt mind staying home too though he so far still deserves to go. He said ok and i told him we'd spend time together. ONLY to not seem unfair to SS. Not trying to hear my in-laws mouths. REALLY sick of this....I recorded an hour of his waling upstairs and yelling " i wanna go" which in turn woke up the baby. ( note i went upstairs and asked him to stop several times but he just ignores me. I told DH id stop texting him the bad things his brat does while he is as work because it upsets and throws off his focus..but im still at home dealing with it. mother in law offered to let him live with her again ( sure there is some catch to it) filled with alterior motives as always) DH said no..part of me wants him to GO but i dont want to have to listen to DH bitch and moan about how he misses his little devil. I wish his mother with fight for custody. I know it would hurt and my DH unhappy but he is tearing our little family to pieces. One thing is for sure and i made it CLEAR , SS is not allowed to live in our house during the summer. This summer has been pure HELL. I sympathize with all you who are going through this daily, who still struggle to TRY an love the child and make it work despite the outcome