Can't wait for today to be over

So...today has just been a bad day overall and I know we all have them in our jobs, but this one takes the cake for probably one of the worst for me.
I have a dc boy, he is 3 1/2 and I have been having issues with his behaviour for months now. Been trying so very hard to help him out (he's from a broken family) but he's just getting worse. So today he was asked to go pee before starting our story and play time, something I do every day, but for some reason he started yelling when he was in the bathroom, I went in asked him what was wrong and he was sitting on the floor, kicking, spitting etc. Apparently he wanted to be the "first" one in the playroom so he decided since he wasn't, it was ok to have a complete temper tantrum, it's usually what he does when he does not get his way. I explained that he had to pee like the rest of the dck and then come on in to play. He started kicking me and then pushing the other children. For their safety, as well as his, I put him in the play yard, asked him to calm down and then he could join us. He tried to get out of the play yard and "just" as I told him he was going to hurt himself, bam, down he goes and whacks his eye on the corner of the play yard. Now he has a small cut and he's mad at me, lol. I explained he hurt himself and that yes, I am sure he's upset and mad, but nobody did it to him but himself because he was having a tantrum. I of course messaged his mom, filling her in, sent a picture and sent someone to the store to get some of those butterfly bandaids as I didn't want him to be touching the cut. Don't think it needs stitches, but the mom only replied with yes, he's been horrible the past few weeks, hitting me, kicking me etc. but no matter how many times he does this to me, I will not hit him, I just put him for a time out. Well hello, do you think maybe I should have known that he was having issues at home so I could be extra watchful here. Now of course she will see him at pickup and be upset that he hurt himself, but I don't know what else to do to get this little guy to co operate and behave. The other kids are starting to complain that he's mean and that they don't want to play with him, I feel bad, but can understand their feelings. I will be so happy when this day is done, days like this are so draining on us, I'm sure you've all had days like this too. Hopefully tomorrow is a better one with him. Any suggestions on how to help him be better behaved while he's at dc.

It sounds like what you are doing is fine.

I don't allow tantrums. It is an instant time out in my house. A child must sit there until they are done. I carry on without them. I had one child who would try to have a full on tantrum. I knew he hated being last so not only would he get a time out but I would also tell him he was going to be last for everything that day. And I stuck to it. It took awhile but he learned to control his outbursts because he knew I meant business. He also knew that his bad behaviour had longer consequences than just a time out.

I do have to say now that he has moved on from my daycare how much easier things are!

You need to find what really matters to the child. I had another who always looked forward to our afternoon snack because it was usually more of a treat. Well a few times of not getting the same as the other kids (rice cakes instead of cookies etc) did the trick.