5 Year Old Says You Just Dont Know.

Does he have a particular show or movie he watches a lot? My son would pick up phrases that sounded sooooo grown up and then later we would hear them in a movie and realize where they had come from.

M

It just a phase.
Kids go through many phases of saying certain phrases.
They are not LITERALLY, meaning it. They don't LITERALLY, analyze the spoken word, like adults do.
Nor do they necessarily know what it means nor how to use the phrase properly nor socially.

Or ask him, what HE means, by it.
And talk about it.
So that, he learns about communication.

Could you give us specifics on the situations when he is saying this? That might be helpful. If it's a non sequitur, likely a phase. However, if he's having a hard time explaining his feelings, or if you are trying to reassure him or explain something, maybe he is right... maybe he thinks you just don't know what he's trying to express because it hasn't been reflected back to him.

Just a thought...

He probably heard the phrase somewhere, thought it sounded interesting or cool, and is testing it out. It doesn't actually mean anything profound.

It's hard to give any advice without knowing when he's using it. If it's just random, then it's just something he's heard and liked so he's repeating it.

If it's when you are talking to him about something, then ask him what he means by that and exactly what it is that he thinks you don't know. Explain to him that you WANT to know so you can help him or have a conversation with him about whatever it is.

Again, it's really hard when we don't know how/when he's saying it.

Ignore it & he'll stop saying it.

Don't worry about it. He's found a new phrase, and it's interesting to him. It is especially interesting because he is confusing his parents and they are paying more attention to him when he says it.

Ignore it - soon he'll find a new phrase to try out...

Dawn