Do 5 year old boys understand english??

[alliep30]

Don't know if anyone else is suffering? My ds can be really lovely or blooming awful.. no inbetween. It takes 5 requests for him to do anything, and he cries more than my 1yr old when he's tired..Any suggestions to get him to listen without shouting all the time? As he's at school we don't spend a lot of time together so the time we do have i don't want to be fighting...help!!!!

Get him to repeat back to you what you said:
"Go get your pajamas on"
(no indication he heard you)
"Johnny, did you hear what I just said? Go get your pajamas on. Repeat that back to me, what did I just say?"

It's really hard to anticipate when they're tired, and figure out how to manage it. Sympathies there. One reason my ds doesn't do hardly any structured activity outside of school. Helps if you can come up with a reward for them; "Let's get ready for bed so I can read you some stories".

Good plan... i just get so stressed that I end up shouting.. nothing i ever seem to do is right... don't get me wrong..he's good at school, got lovely manners and thinks of other people but it's just at home that he is hard work...

been there!!!

My ds is four and often has to be asked loads of times to do something (then again so does 7 yr old dd at times!)

I've noticed with ds though that he's just so full of beans and bouncing about that he just doesn't always understand that you need to get on and do things. When I collect him from pre-school he wants to charge about madly instead of getting changed, but his sister get herself sorted out.

One way I have found helps is to get down to his level and ask him face to face very clearly and keep him engaged. I don't think boys always take on board a general 'put your shoes on' from somewhere way above them or the next room. They seem to need very clear instructions and with your full attention behind it. Lots of praise is good too - especially if he does something straight away or from his own initiative.

I know what you mean about shouting - God I've done loads, but I try now very hard not to, where sanity allows (of course I still have a good bellow quite regularly - I'm only human). The thing is, they just get used to it and you end up in the ever decreasing circle of having to shout ever louder and feeling worse about it all.

you're so right. patience is very ltd at the mo!!! think i'll try the getting in his face business... he doesn't seem to register my voice as you rightly said...ta!!!!

alliep30 - it's not just boys! my dd is nearly 5 and her behaviour at home, since she started full-time school, veers wildly between surprisingly 'mature' and complete toddler type tantrums.

i know what you mean... i think because we didn't have the terrible 2's we are getting it now!