I’ve decided to document large boy’s journey through his year 6 experiences with a series of posts sharing a (mostly tongue in cheek) assessment of what it’s like having a 10 or 11 year old child.
The Attitude
Me oh my this child has developed a whole other way of behaving and communicating.
My lovely, sweet boy always argued his point but also always did as he was told, and could be threated by the word “one” in the knowledge that if mum or dad got to “five” there would be trouble. He also harbours a desire to be a solicitor so he can argue all day.
In year 5 he cast scorn upon the rude, big-headed, over-confident and superior year 6 children last year. “I’ll never be like them, mum!” he declared.
Pah!
The descent began in October, with answering back in a major way. Then by December he was “soooo tired” and cross that he wasn’t allowed his Switch just before tea time one day that he bemoaned extreme boredom. My suggestion that he help mum with some jobs, since mum never has time to be bored, and maybe empty the dishwasher resulted in an 11 year old boy lying on the hall carpet in tears.
Wait what? The toddler years are long gone aren’t they? Where the hell did that full on tantrum come from!?
We’ve had other days where he’s hidden under a blanket in the living room or shut himself in his bedroom in frustration over small things – but they feel big to him.
Of course we want to let him stretch his independence and learn how to make good decisions even if that involves making some mistakes along the way. But the one basic principle that he has to maintain is respect for his parents and what we do to support him and his brother so that they can have fun experiences in life.
But the attitude is flaring up. Strong opinions get expressed, sometimes opinions that we need to talk him out of; less-than-kind or considerate attitudes to his peers. When one of his classmates does something stupid, he leaps to tell us how wrong they were. But, we’re trying to bring up young people who are understanding and sympathetic, so we try to temper his reactions and reason that maybe those friends doing foolish things are having a tough time themselves.
With his new expressions of attitude, we’re learning how to navigate parenting a young person (he’s hardly a child anymore) with their own opinions and thoughts, their own independent assessments of situations. We’re learning from him and he’s learning about who he is in his own right.
Pre-teen parent’s prayer
Grant me the calm to accept that the strops will happen, the strength of character not to take them personally, and the wisdom to help my child to grow in kindness.
Your advice?
Please, please! Share your advice on managing the attitude explosions of a pre-teen.
Smelly Socks and Garden Peas 
Oh, I remember this age well! It is definitely a time for attitude and a little bit of rebellion! I wish I could give you some advice, but I have only experienced this from the child’s side. But good luck and enjoy this time! I hear it goes quickly lol!
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At the moment the rebellious attitude is replaced with just strong emotions about how hard everything is, not a happy chap. But only for 30mins here and there at least.
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Keep doing what you’re doing! Preteens are the worst things ever🤣🤣🤣
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No advice I’m afraid, but total sympathy…I have a 12-year old with a playstation addiction and newly discovered attitude! Total nightmare.
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Ah he’s angling for an xbox at the moment as his switch is “getting a bit old”.
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I’m not a parent but I spent a number of years teaching Year 6 and all I can say is … oh, boy yes there is so much attitude, haha! But I also kind of liked that; I certainly didn’t always appreciate it but I always tried to facilitate the fact that they are all just figuring out how to communicate and express themselves. If there’s a lot of attitude going on then it usually seemed to have something going on beneath it (either directly or indirectly linked). There’s no magic to this but I found a whole lot of patience and a healthy sense of humour made it better — good luck!
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Not sure he appreciates my sense of humour when dealing with the attitude. Yes I’m loving seeing him grow into his own person and have strong opinions. I think he’s actually very even tempered compared to many children. But that just makes it more of a shock to me when he does flare up. So far no major fallings out though.
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A few more years and he will be off to Uni asking for a new car. Haha
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Heaven help me! He’s already hoping for a vintage mini for his 16th so he can learn how it works before driving it a year later.
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Good idea.
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Shhhhhh don’t tell him that!
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Ha ha. Did you see my Throwback Thursday post this week? It has my parenting advice having survived and raised two young adults. My biggest advice is “pick your battles”. It’s hard but sometimes you have to let things go or you’ll drive yourself…and your kids…up the wall. You’ll be fine Smell! I survived and you will too.
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I did read that and the original. Definitely picking my battles. Let large boy make pancakes by himself last week. He is now in charge of all pancaking.
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Grit your teeth and count to one hundred! This phase will hopefully pass very soon. 🤞🤞
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Ha ha ha ha ha. Yeah in about 6 years.
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