My child is 8 yrs old. Her father left when I was pregnant. She has never seen him nor knows his name. I dated a man from the time she was about 18 months old until she was 5 yrs old. For the last 3 years I have had a very difficult time with her behavior. But it has been off and on. She will go weeks or even months being a typical child with good days and bad days. Then she will decide she is ready to be defiant. Last week when I asked her why she had such a hard week at school she even said, I have been good for a long time and I am ready to be bad. I realize some of this is normal and even I sometimes feel like letting my hair down and am ready to be bad LOL But she gets really angry. We have been to counselling and learned that she has a sense of abandonment more from the man I dated then from her actual father. But I am sure she has issues with both. I am looking for information on how to handle these situations. Every thing I find is either geared for smaller children, teens, or the loss of a parent through death, but I am sure it is out there because I know we are not the only family in this boat. Can you help?