I don't always understand the "why" of it all but sometimes after the big blow up, the calm sets in and things settle down.  I think it was building up for months.  Vacation to Tucson was great but there is anxiety in going away and change and getting out of routine.  Then the pressures of the holidays and the "let down" after Christmas is over.  Then the long trip down and back to Florida.  And I truly think he was not sleeping well for weeks.  I can never allow David to have a tv in his room as he would stay up all night watching it.  And his room had just built up to one big huge mess and with everything he was just so overwhelmed and blew up.  Now, taking out much of the clutter, he is doing much better.  I think the bulk of the pressure is off.  And I think he screamed and cried himself to exhaustion and probably got the best sleep that night he had gotten in months.  I am hoping between the three of us we get this all done by this weekend and life gets back to some kind of normal.  I would like to see him do his chores (make bed, vacuum, clean his bathroom) and finish them, in 2-3 hrs of concentrated effort so that the rest of the weekend is his to play, read, watch tv, etc.   We sat as a family last night and went over the rules again and some punishments/consequences, like writing "I will not play with matches" 50 times.  And we talked about the candy, cookies, cereal bars, etc in his room.  And the discussion was great.  No one got angry or lost their temper.  Phew!  I pray every day to be the best mom I can be.  I pray to say the right thing, do the right thing.  I love him and I can't fail him. Other than that, everything else is the same.  Still busy at work.  Getting my exercises in.  Trying to eat better.  (Night time in front of the TV still remains a HUGE challenge.)  I joined the Delaware 10 ton Challenge.  (If you are a DE resident, you sign up on line to lose weight.  It goes 10 weeks and there is a contest with a 1 year membership as one of the prizes.  But they want DE residents to lose 10 tons or 20,000 lbs.)   Anyway, thank you to all of my friends.  I really do not know what I would do without my DS friends.