DS5 is driving me nuts.

[Fixesplease]

Good morning,

I'm hoping for some moral support/ brilliant ideas I have yet to think of as my DS 5 is driving me to distraction atm.
He is usually pretty good, however since he finished school for the Summer 2 weeks ago he has ramped up some seriously crap behaviour and I'm at a loss what to do.

Hes back chatting, has me repeating things constantly , defiant (honestly I've never seen anything like it!) Hes constantly arguing against everything , nothing I do seems to be working.

I've tried

*Time out.

• Reward charts
• Talking to him about his behaviour
• Loss of privileges (Although his toys are all I really have to bargain with)

He has 2 full days playdates during the week, weekends are full of activities , we both wFH so it's a juggle on the other 3 but manageable as I get up super early to get mine done.
So can spend the majority of the day with him.

I'm just at a loss, he acts 5 going on 15!

Please tell me I'm not the only one struggling with a kid this age.
Is this a stage no one told me about?

I'm really starting to feel like the world's worst parent. 😕

Could he be over tired?
That sounds like there's a lot going on and holiday are supposed to be a break from the normal daily routine.
When does he have down time just to chill out?

He's unsettled, out of routine, probably a bit bored, and aware that both you and his Dad have other things you're focusing on so probably feels like he's not super important to you right now. The bad behaviour is him expressing how weird and off-kilter he feels.

If I were you, I'd take some proper leave and actually spend dedicated time with him without checking emails, popping back into the office, shhhing him because Dad's on a call, etc. Either that, or get proper childcare. Also, keep the idea of school present in his head so he knows it's coming up again soon.

I did think that initially but ice kept the 3 days a week really low key, home days with baking, movies that type of thing to balance it out.
He has requested a 'jammie day' on those days which I have done with snuggles and sofa time.
Haven't made a great deal of difference tbh.

How the hell do people juggle the unsettledness?
Although I work too it's only part time hours and I'm up at 4am, work then log off by 8, he usually only gets up at 7.30. He gets my full attention for the vast majority of the day.

We do have a week booked off next week for the holidays so can spent some quality time together as a family, hopefully that will help!

If he was mine I would be looking at exercise, sleep, diet and making sure he has a plan of the week on the fridge so he knows what is happening and then start putting consequences in place for poor behaviour.

Lots of kids find the loss of normal structure really hard over the holidays, especially the first couple of weeks whilst they settle in. It will calm down when he gets used to the pattern. Just keep reassuring him that there are plans and let him get bored and work out what to do himself. Being bored is really important for developing creativity.