10 yr old boy crying, tantrums

I have a 10 year old boy. He is very bright, a model student and very well behaved in school. He is a good looking boy and very popular in school. However, he is prone to crying attacks. In his baseball league he is prone to a crying attack if he strikes out. Another example, before school the other day, he put on his new school uniform pants and found he didn't like how they fit. When we told him that he had tried them on himself at the store and said they were fine, and now he had to wear them, he broke into a crying tantrum that lasted at least 10 or 15 minutes. Many times, if his brother or sister call him a name, he will break into a crying attack and have a tantrum. It seems like on a daily basis, he has a crying attack for one reason or another. Once he gets past it, he goes back to his normal self.

What do you make of this behavior? Is this normal for a 10 year old boy? How do we deal with it?

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

The behavior may not be what you'd call average for a boy of ten, but it's also not terribly worrisome. Generally by this age, children have developed more of a thick skin or resilience when it comes to handling momentary disappointments. My gess is that, over time, particularly over these next couple of years, he will be better able to handle discouragement without such a reaction. He does recover well, and this is important. Overall I'd just let it pass - you really don't need to intervene.