Also just curious, as I didn't raise my son in a neighborhood - how many parents would expect a 5 year old to stay in the yard without a gate/fence set up unsupervised? Do other kids in the neighborhood manage this?
I didn't really expect my son at 5 to be able to restrain himself from touching things in a store for more than 5 minutes, we had phrases, like 'lookin' no touchin'' and 'no touch other people's food' that I'd repeat over and over in the grocery line. I didn't expect him to be able to keep his hands to himself unless I was providing some kind of entertainment. I'm not saying I shouldn't have had higher standards, I just believed that he was doing the best he could. Not sure why, except that there is lots of ADHD in the family, and my expectations were influenced by my memories of younger brothers. I remember that my mom often put me in charge of 'occupying' their attention so that they wouldn't do what they weren't supposed to.
shrugs and more shrugs,
Grinity
