Argh 5yo DS thinks its perfectly OK to do anything wrong because he apologises.

[wangle99]

Thats it in a nutshell really, he thinks he can behave as badly as anything, do anything he wants, answer back as rudely as anything etc etc because he apologises straight away.

How on earth do I get through that apologising doesn't make it ok to do this stuff in the first place!

kind of normal in development

tell him "sorry doesn't make it right"

oh right I didnt't realise it was a development thing, it was a long time since DD was that age (she's now 12!).

Latest thing this morning was locking the cat flap so the cats couldn't get out, denying he did it and then saying 'but I have apologised' argh lol

Thanks

oh dear,I feel your pain because DS (6) is exactly the same. If I catch him doing/saying something he shouldn't, he immediately stops and starts repeating the word 'sorry' over and over again until 'the look' goes off my face. Once I sent him up stairs to his bedroom for some heinous crime or other. He proceeded to spend the next 15 mins throwing sorry cards down the stairs with variations of the phrase 'I'm sorry mummy' in them. In the end I gave in . So I have no answers for you but share your pain and therefore I wouldn't worry because it appears to be normal behaviour.

lol elliepac I feel the sorry cards are not far away. Yesterday I had a card on it with 'I luv yooh' apparently this also makes things right!!

you must also watch out for that timeless favourite 'you are the best mummy in the world!'

Definitely a developmental stage, and one my brother is still at, although he's turned 40.

I've always gone with
'Sorry means you know what you did was wrong, so that means you won't do it again. If you do, you weren't really sorry.'