Move Over Terrible Twos, now it's the Frightful Fives!

Hey mommas! I am guessing if you are reading this you have a kid who is a terrible two and you are hoping it’s going to end or you are a momma with 5 year old and you know two was a cakewalk compared to this sassy, back talking attitude of a five year old.

I was on my favorite side Yahoo! Parenting when I came across this article “Why Five May Be The Hardest Age Of All” and I found myself nodding along to all the points in the article.

Two was a breeze compared to 5. Five changes everything!

I myself am having a horrible time with my 5-year old. He is independent and thinks he is grown and can back talk, tell me no, refuse everything I tell him. And yet there is a part of him that is still toddlerish where he still needs help doing things even though he doesn’t want the help, he still wants to be held and babied some night, and some nights he is suddenly too old for things so babyish.

I too am stuck in between. Part of me is still holding on to him as a baby as he is my first and as of right now my only, so I still put him in footed pajamas with penguins on them and wash him with Johnsons & Johnsons baby wash. But at the same time I know he is a big boy now and have to teach him big boy things and he is losing teeth and it is such an impasse in both of our lives to try to figure out this time. That can be stressful for both of us.

However, none of that accounts for the attitude that comes with 5. I am not alone in this I have talked to other mommies who say the same thing. As soon as they blow out the 5 candles on their cake, some preteen, defiant sassy mouthed little person arises out of the candle smoke. And it will take you by surprise!

The article had many great points in how to deal with your 5 year old. It suggested making sure you have an established bedtime and routine. Children this age need 10-12 hours of sleep at night (Dean fights me on that of course lol). Adequate sleep can help them not be so cranky.

The article also suggested you may have to adopt some new discipline techniques.

You can read all about those and even more about the Frightful Fives on Yahoo! Parenting!

Now don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of great things about 5-year-olds too! They are smart, funny, great story tellers. They play such imaginative games and sometimes, just sometimes they will let you rock them to sleep while their long legs dangle over the sides.