Rodney

Tr8, I've taught first through fifth-graders (all in the same class!), and a lot of boys definitely tend to get more mouthy about fifth grade. Biology may be a factor, but I think it's that they've gotten old enough to notice the world around them and start trying on roles and behaviors demonstrated by peers and in-groups. (Bullying can be part of it.) Often, these peers are the wrong ones, and this often shows in a tendency to mouth off and be sarcastic. A teacher will tell them to do something, and they will, but only after putting on a little show to prove that they're their own person. (I've learned not to put up with that.)

Personally, I think they're _more_ clueless in fifth grade than in fourth, but that's maybe just because their brains are developing at that age the ability to see life in shades of grey instead of in black and white, and they have to learn to deal with that.

Anyway, you're doing the right thing. Get those other kids away, but keep in mind that he's going to be more and more peer-centered and less and less parent-centered, at at least some self-centered behavior is inevitable for the next few years. That said, I think it's time for a big talk, if you haven't already had one. Explain in detail why you're doing what you do, explain your philosophy, how you got that way in your own life; get his reaction (let him talk at length and ask questions) and honor it, but don't waver. (There is the possibility that he'll raise some good point; if so, consider it and answer it honestly.) He is actually old enough to intellectually understand the ramifications and reasons behind what you're doing nearly on an adult level, even if he emotionally doesn't want to.

He's also ready to start seeing you as a person in your own right instead of as "his dad," this character that supplies all his needs but forces him to do inexplicable chores. He probably thinks his life is tough and beyond his control; explain _yours_ to him.

This all may sound rather touchy-feely, but it's not meant to be. He is probably very curious about adult life, and the more you tell him, flat-out, the better it'll be. As for exerting less control when he becomes a teen -- only as he proves he can handle it. He gets more freedom only as he takes more responsibility. And in the end, if it's done with love, he _will_ thank you.