Why has my 5yo DS turned into a grumpy teenager?

[smurfmother]

My usually very easy going, nice-natured DS, who is almost 6, has in the last month started being really moody, misbehaving a lot and seemingly always on the verge of angry tears. Today he took his dad's credit card to school in his coat pocket and when challenged after school said 'God told him to do it.' None of this is major bad behaviour, but it has come out of the blue and I'm not sure how best to deal with it. Any advice much appreciated!

Is he being bullied?

Is it a religious school? Are they going out about Moses etc?

Is he really hearing voices? This may be a mental health issue.... Keep notes.

Have you had a good few hours with him to see what's wrong, have you tried to let him say what's bothering him. Get him to list his friends, ask him how he spends his breaks in school - what he does and who he plays with.

Can you do some art work together- see what he draws.

Have a word in the school, that he seems unhappy, and see what they say.

Smurf I have no advice but I am going to be watching this thread like a hawk! My DS1 is 6.4 and is behaving in a very similar way: it's like he's 6-going-on-16.
I've very nearly started a thread on this myself but never got round to it. I've been so worried about him - to the point that I met up with his lovely teacher last week. She said that she's noticed he doesn't seem as happy as before although not to an extent that she's concerned. She says that he takes school work very seriously and may be putting pressure on himself - is your DS doing the same? Is he in year 1? She (the teacher) plus a teacher friend of mine said that year 1 can be quite challenging and, even if they're doing fine academically, it can still make them a bit anxious. Maybe this is the case with them?
Another friend of mine is a homeopath and she says she sees loads of children at this age with this type of behavioural issue which I suppose is reassuring. I may take him to see her. It seems as though one minute he's lovely and sweet, the next he's like a wild animal and sooo stroppy. It's hard work isn't it?!

One thing though: is he having a growth spurt? My DS always goes a bit weird when he has one. I've just got him out of the bath and I swear he's grown about 4 inches since this morning. New jeans and school trousers this week then. arse

Funny you should say that xigris about growth spurt as he has also got really hungry of late, so yes it seems likely that the two things are related. I'm sure I've read somewhere that boys around this age get a surge of testosterone but I'm usually sceptical about gendered biological determinism so I hadn't paid to much attention to it.

My DS is always STARVING constantly when he has a growth spurt. I've read before that boys have these huge sporadic spurts whereas girls are more steady with growing. There's definitely a lot to be said for testosterone surges too so maybe our DSs are just at their mercy of their hormones? I've always found the Steven Biddulph book "Raising Boys" useful and ages ago I did a brilliant course on parenting boys at a local children's centre. Maybe that would be something for you to look in to? I've got 3 boys so I think I need to sign up for another of those courses.

Thanks! I'll start with Steve Biddulph and see how I get on