Do they become little monsters at 5 ?

So our B/G twins will be 5-years old in 2-weeks. Over the last month we have noticed some behavior changes for the negative that seem to just get worse as 5-years old approaches. DD is an emotional mess and will cry or pout over the smallest thing from time to time when she flares up. DS is having anger fits where he tries to hit or throw things at DH & me when he doesn't get his way. This weekend was so bad with DS after an incident when DS wasn't getting what he wanted he punched my hubby in the stomach, threw a toy at him, and screamed "Daddy I said do it now!" at which point my DH sent him to his room, came to me visibly shaking and said that I needed to handle him because DH was afraid he would hurt him out of anger by accident until he could control himself.

I let him scream & cry for his grandma for awhile, then when into his room, held out my hand, and said "Come on, I don't know this little boy, so you need to leave our house so we can find our sweet little boy Max." He immediately froze and said "What?" and I said "You heard me, come on, your a stranger that we don't know". His attitude changed instantly and he said "But I am Max, if I walk outside I won't have a family, I'll be a good boy again". I had him apologize to DH and his positive attitude lasted the rest of the day, but I know the negative one will return because I see the signs.

So is this a normal behavior around 5-years old because they want to be independent? I thought I handled it well, but I don't know if we can handle weeks or months of this behavior. Please advise or offer suggestions. Thanks.

 

I noticed around the time our kids turned 5 they seemed to be pretty emotional and they have an independent streak a mile wide...which is a nice to see. But during that emotional period both DH and I had to be extra firm with them and that seemed to help. It sounds like you handled the situation well. Knock on wood, for the most part, 5 have been pretty good to us.

 

We had issues with DD in terms of the pouting and crying over nothing. We just tell her to act like a big girl and ignore it. It doesn't always work, but she has gotten a lot better about it.