ABSTRACT
My little boy, now three and a half, is naturally excitable, in spite of the fact that he and his little sister, just a year older, live pretty quietly and are kept to a most regular routine; but he gets frequent fits of excitement, quite often for no apparent reason, when he seems almost beside himself. He is a very sturdy child, and has greater strength than his sister. Consequently in these moods he is not only excessively rough, but sometimes almost dangerous. Apart from that, it is extremely worrying to one’s temper when he keeps hitting, or nearly hitting, with frequent accidents that do actually hurt. He is never intentionally cruel, but in these excitable moods he just sets his teeth and “goes for” anything handy. No amount of reasoning seems any use.
