Anyone with a 6 year old willing to share experiences?

I've got a 6 yo boy. Fire away

My son has recently be begging me not to take him to daycare and I found out there is an issue with one of the kids. Most of the kids are 3-4 and there is a 6 year old girl there who manipulates the other kids and will basically pick one kid each day to be her buddy and cast out the other kids as the losers and make sure they are not involved in any activity. Another parent was seeing the exact same thing and we discussed it with the teacher. I told my son to play with his other friends, make them feel happy and to ignore her, especially if she wants him to be her buddy for the day.

It's disturbing how a small girl can manipulate others. She even tells stories about her dad (sperm donor who she doesn't know) and tells the kids we was a soldier who died or he was in jail for killing someone or he died in an accident..She has quite the imagination!

It sounds to me like there is something going on with him for him to change all of his behaviors and start not being interested in things he used to enjoy.

Neither of my boys are six right now (they are 12 and 10)... but I will say that the MOST difficult age for either of them so far was around 6.5 to 7.5 years old. Not fun - of course you always love them so much, but there were days I didn't really like them at that age. Defiant, explosive and rude. I think a lot of it comes from being in school full-time, being around other kids and their sometimes poor influences, and really wanting to show their independence... trust me, it gets better - much better.

I'd like to follow this thread if there's more...

My 6 y/o has bad days. Just yesterday his summer day camp leader told me he was rude and screaming. He's had days like that through Kindergarten last school year too and I ended up taking him out in the afternoons so that he only went half days some of the time. By the end of the school year he was back to full days all week but I also got him some counseling because I wasn't sure how much of his behavior problem was related to just being 6 or if it was because he's adjusting to our life changes.

He was almost 4 when his baby brother was born, his dad (my husband) died suddenly and I remarried a year later then we moved. Kids are resilient, but that's a LOT of change. I try and take it easy on him but with firm boundaries so he knows when he's crossed the lines.

Anyway... that's all I got...

Hi - I have 2 boys aged 7 and 5. I most definitely have experienced what you’re talking about with both boys. From what I understand, around age 5, many boys will start trying to push their own independence and decision making, i.e. exerting their own "power". This doesn't solve the problem behavior, but I have tried to "give over" some of the "power" in circumstances that make sense. Such as picking out his own clothes, choosing between different activities, and even what's being served for dinner sometimes. It does get better, as I've seen with my older boy, however there are times when the answer is no and the melt downs happen.

There's more to it than just age here.

My son is 6, and yes, getting more and more independent, which I encourage.


I'm assuming that he has already been through Kindergarten...was this at another location or at the daycare? Has he started 1st grade? I found that my son became less interested with his daycare when he began going to Kindergarten last year. The fits ramped up, for a couple of months, but after a warning and swift correction, they stopped. I worked with him on how he needs to start acting like a a little man, and no longer a little boy...he's in school now. He gets more responsibility, and more freedoms. But if he doesnt respect them, he will be treated with equal respect...best one yet...embarrassing the crap out of him in Wal-Mart throwing an equally bad fit in the same manner...hasnt thrown one in there since.

Do be VERY aware, though, of the daycare. if it deals with his daycare....something could be up. Talk to the person in charge of the daycare to find out if anything has changed there - teachers/caregivers, patterns, new kids, etc. Sadly, in this age, we must use enormous amounts of caution with people we leave our children with to care for them. ASK your son questions that you should not have to dream of asking. You may also need to look at a change of venue.

My daughter will turn six in less than three months. Last summer, we started having a similar experience with her. She had a stomach virus and all of a sudden, she was terrified of day care/preschool. She would complain about sickness (mostly stomach) to try to get out of going. She would not tell me why. Finally, she told me that she was terrified of having an accident at school. (she was also going to bathroom a lot but when she went, not actually having to go). I found out from her assistant teacher that two kids had had accidents in two days, which was very unusual. When I talked to my daughter about it, she told me that when this happened, the head teacher said "oh my god!" (and she even did a little impression of the teacher making a big deal about it). We had her switched to another teacher (I know - already that parent and she's just in preschool) and we saw a difference right away. The new teacher is more "warm and fuzzy" and when she did backslide a little in November, the new teacher came up with a plan and we worked together so I don't regret switching her at all.

I am a little worried about the transition to school in a few weeks. (She starts kindergarten). But we're taking one day at a time, which is all you can do.

I agree that it could be an issue with the teacher, another kid, anything. The things that worry or upset little kids may seem odd to us!