Crazy five year old

[Anonymous]

My newly five year old is very bright but maybe a little socially behind. Lately he is all about being the class clown and making very, very funny jokes (except they aren't) to his brother and friends and we cannot snap him out of this silly mood. Nothing works with him - time out, taking away toys, privileges, etc. Our best option is to take him to his room and make him sit there for a long time until he can calm down.
My biggest concern is he is like this at all activities, in class, with us, with the nanny, and now has been in time out at camp because he wouldn't listen and stop being 'silly'.
When we try to get his attention and give him warnings before the punishment is enacted it feels like we can't even get his attention.

Anyone been through this? Please tell me it is a phase.

thank you!

[Anonymous]

OP have you tried just totally ignoring him? Seems like he's getting a lot of attention from this.

[Anonymous]

Sending him to his room is not smart. A bedroom is made for sleeping, not for time out.

Have you simply asked him why he is being silly ?

Maybe he's just bored in school because he's smarter than his friends.

[Anonymous]

He's five..

[Anonymous]

We have tried ignoring him but this can go on for hours. And again, he is doing it in school, at tae kwon do, at camp etc.
Thank you to the poster who explained that a bedroom is for sleeping - we send him there not so much as a punishment but to give him time to calm down. He gets so crazy and worked up into a frenzy that talking to him calmly, asking him to stop and elevated levels of threats don't seem to work.

I'm looking for tips and tricks of anyone who has been in a similar situation.. I completely understand that he is 5 but when I see him acting this way in front of a group of kids over and over again it is frustrating.

[Anonymous]

Does he understand it is a problem and want to stop? My son had trouble settling himself down when he started getting angry or frustrated or even overly silly, but he HATED getting in trouble, and felt badly afterward. So he was motivated to find a way to stop himself. He selected a word I would say which meant "you are about to cross a line and you wanted me to help you not cross it. Shut it down, now." That word was Pizza, his choice. It helped some, but I think what helped more was the conversation and him deciding he wanted help. More often he'd look to me for help when he was out of control, and that ASKING for help was the most powerful thing to help him calm down. Snapped him out of it.

If your kiddo doesn't see there is a problem and doesn't want to be more in control of himself, it may take a little more time to get him to that place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sending him to his room is not smart. A bedroom is made for sleeping, not for time out.

Have you simply asked him why he is being silly ?

Maybe he's just bored in school because he's smarter than his friends.

+1

-NP

[Anonymous]

Let him be silly at home or where it doesn't matter. Who cares if he's funny.

At school or camp let them enact consequences for poor behavior.

He's only 5 and they are silly, so who knows, but keep possible ADHD dx in mind if he doesn't mature.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sending him to his room is not smart. A bedroom is made for sleeping, not for time out.

Have you simply asked him why he is being silly ?

Maybe he's just bored in school because he's smarter than his friends.

+1

-NP

Op here - While I'm a little biased he isn't smarter than the other kids in the class. It is more of a social issue. Its happening all the time. I think it is for attention.. I'm just unsure of how to deal with it without giving him that attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have tried ignoring him but this can go on for hours. And again, he is doing it in school, at tae kwon do, at camp etc.
Thank you to the poster who explained that a bedroom is for sleeping - we send him there not so much as a punishment but to give him time to calm down. He gets so crazy and worked up into a frenzy that talking to him calmly, asking him to stop and elevated levels of threats don't seem to work.

I'm looking for tips and tricks of anyone who has been in a similar situation.. I completely understand that he is 5 but when I see him acting this way in front of a group of kids over and over again it is frustrating.

OP - when you're ignoring him, do you leave the room? This is definitely the sort of behavior that requires an audience.

You can't control him doing this at camp, but you do have a say in what happens in his class.

You can set expectations for how he needs to behave, and let him know gently that if he gets too silly, you'll have to pull him out of the class so he doesn't distract the other kids. Not in an angry way... just a matter of fact consequence.

[Anonymous]

I have a teenager who was like that. Frustrating for sure then, but the kid will now talk to anyone about anything. Public speaking for class, running for office, introducing himself to admin and coaches. He's managed to turn it into a life skill. He can still be a total PITA at a family dinner when he asks the stupidest questions just to get a laugh, but now that he's older he actually is funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have tried ignoring him but this can go on for hours. And again, he is doing it in school, at tae kwon do, at camp etc.
Thank you to the poster who explained that a bedroom is for sleeping - we send him there not so much as a punishment but to give him time to calm down. He gets so crazy and worked up into a frenzy that talking to him calmly, asking him to stop and elevated levels of threats don't seem to work.

I'm looking for tips and tricks of anyone who has been in a similar situation.. I completely understand that he is 5 but when I see him acting this way in front of a group of kids over and over again it is frustrating.

OP - when you're ignoring him, do you leave the room? This is definitely the sort of behavior that requires an audience.

You can't control him doing this at camp, but you do have a say in what happens in his class.

You can set expectations for how he needs to behave, and let him know gently that if he gets too silly, you'll have to pull him out of the class so he doesn't distract the other kids. Not in an angry way... just a matter of fact consequence.