A Few Firsts
Last Friday Colin did something that (to me) was pretty amazing: he ate a salad. A real salad! I decided that he's nearly two years old, and at some point he needs to just start eating what we are having. H and I were having big salads, so I made a mini version for Colin which included:
On the not-so-wonderful side, it seems that Colin has encountered his first bully at school. About a month ago Colin was hit in the eye with a truck by another child (let's call him "Jackson") and ended up with some scabs very close to his eye. His father was exceedingly concerned, and obsessed for over a week that Colin's vision was impaired, but I just shrugged it off. My thought was more along the lines of "boys will be boys" and little kids sometimes get a boo-boo, no big deal. Daddy just wouldn't let it go, though: he kept asking Colin how his eye was, and Colin would reply "Jackson hit it" pointing to his eye and giving a rather pitiful look. I kept admonishing H to drop it because I didn't want Colin to keep obsessing about an incident that happened in the past. Even this past weekend... H asked Colin something and his immediate response was "Jackson, he hit it." Crazy! I couldn't believe Colin was still going on about something that happened so long ago.
Last week H stopped in to visit Colin and the kid was at it again... and he was sneaky about it. He made sure the teachers weren't looking, then hit Colin in the head with another truck. Then he pushed Colin who promptly fell over onto another child (his darling girlfriend Lily). Colin and Lily both tumbled to the ground, and Lily started crying which finally got the teacher's attention... and while they didn't make a big deal about it at that point Colin was likely to get the blame for knocking Lily over which really wasn't the case. Neither incident was caused by a conflict over a toy, or anything like that... the kid just came over and whammo! H also said that when Jackson started his nonsense Colin started crying and wanting to be picked up and wouldn't play any more.
I was still willing to write this off as little kids playing, and H just happening to be there at an off moment. But after this morning I'm not so sure.
We arrived at school and most of the kids (and the teachers) were in the adjoining room, eating breakfast. In the Toddler room it was just me and Colin and Jackson, with Jackson's mom over by the kitchenette with her back turned. Jackson saw Colin, and from across the room began running toward him full speed. This isn't uncommon and the kids normally get close and then stop and say "hi" to one another, or hug or whatever so I wasn't too concerned. Then I noticed that Jackson was running at Coiln with both arms straight out, elbows locked, and his hands in fists. We just stood there, as I was sure he'd stop before he actually hit Colin. Right?
Wrong. The kid would have plowed full-speed into Colin with both fists if I hadn't blocked him at the last moment. I gently admonished "Jackson, that isn't a very nice way to say hello." making sure I was loud enough for his mother to hear me. When she asked what happened I told her (without making a big deal) and she began explaining to her son that he can't play so rough. Jackson didn't seem interested in what she had to say, and just ran off.
Colin, on the other hand, was done. Normally he's always happy when other kids are around (at night I can't get him to leave school because he just wants to keep playing) but he asked me over and over to pick him up. I carried him around for a minute then tried putting him down again thinking the moment had passed. Jackson came straight over with his fist still balled up, and Colin put me in between them, half hiding behind my legs while wagging his finger at the other boy saying "No! Jackson, NO! Up, Mama, UP!" It would have been funny if it wasn't disturbing, but Colin was really serious and I couldn't help but feel bad for him.
I walked Colin over to the other room and sat him down with the other kids while I heated up his breakfast, but this has been really bothering me. I don't want to be an over-reactive parent, and know that toddlers are still learning self control, and kids hit one another sometimes, and boys-will-be-boys and all that. But at the same time I'm starting to think that this kid is really a sneaky bully... is that possible in a 2-year-old??? I don't know, but I've decided to calmly talk to Colin's teacher today and explain that while I understand kids playing and blah-blah-blah, I would appreciate if they would keep a closer eye on the interaction between the two boys. Hopefully this is just a phase Jackson is going through, and with a little extra monitoring the teachers can provide a little guidance to nip this in the bud.
If not, mama bear is going to come out to play, and it may not be pretty.
- raw spinach
- baby carrots
- grape tomatoes
- croutons
- chicken breast
- dressing
On the not-so-wonderful side, it seems that Colin has encountered his first bully at school. About a month ago Colin was hit in the eye with a truck by another child (let's call him "Jackson") and ended up with some scabs very close to his eye. His father was exceedingly concerned, and obsessed for over a week that Colin's vision was impaired, but I just shrugged it off. My thought was more along the lines of "boys will be boys" and little kids sometimes get a boo-boo, no big deal. Daddy just wouldn't let it go, though: he kept asking Colin how his eye was, and Colin would reply "Jackson hit it" pointing to his eye and giving a rather pitiful look. I kept admonishing H to drop it because I didn't want Colin to keep obsessing about an incident that happened in the past. Even this past weekend... H asked Colin something and his immediate response was "Jackson, he hit it." Crazy! I couldn't believe Colin was still going on about something that happened so long ago.
Last week H stopped in to visit Colin and the kid was at it again... and he was sneaky about it. He made sure the teachers weren't looking, then hit Colin in the head with another truck. Then he pushed Colin who promptly fell over onto another child (his darling girlfriend Lily). Colin and Lily both tumbled to the ground, and Lily started crying which finally got the teacher's attention... and while they didn't make a big deal about it at that point Colin was likely to get the blame for knocking Lily over which really wasn't the case. Neither incident was caused by a conflict over a toy, or anything like that... the kid just came over and whammo! H also said that when Jackson started his nonsense Colin started crying and wanting to be picked up and wouldn't play any more.
I was still willing to write this off as little kids playing, and H just happening to be there at an off moment. But after this morning I'm not so sure.
We arrived at school and most of the kids (and the teachers) were in the adjoining room, eating breakfast. In the Toddler room it was just me and Colin and Jackson, with Jackson's mom over by the kitchenette with her back turned. Jackson saw Colin, and from across the room began running toward him full speed. This isn't uncommon and the kids normally get close and then stop and say "hi" to one another, or hug or whatever so I wasn't too concerned. Then I noticed that Jackson was running at Coiln with both arms straight out, elbows locked, and his hands in fists. We just stood there, as I was sure he'd stop before he actually hit Colin. Right?
Wrong. The kid would have plowed full-speed into Colin with both fists if I hadn't blocked him at the last moment. I gently admonished "Jackson, that isn't a very nice way to say hello." making sure I was loud enough for his mother to hear me. When she asked what happened I told her (without making a big deal) and she began explaining to her son that he can't play so rough. Jackson didn't seem interested in what she had to say, and just ran off.
Colin, on the other hand, was done. Normally he's always happy when other kids are around (at night I can't get him to leave school because he just wants to keep playing) but he asked me over and over to pick him up. I carried him around for a minute then tried putting him down again thinking the moment had passed. Jackson came straight over with his fist still balled up, and Colin put me in between them, half hiding behind my legs while wagging his finger at the other boy saying "No! Jackson, NO! Up, Mama, UP!" It would have been funny if it wasn't disturbing, but Colin was really serious and I couldn't help but feel bad for him.
I walked Colin over to the other room and sat him down with the other kids while I heated up his breakfast, but this has been really bothering me. I don't want to be an over-reactive parent, and know that toddlers are still learning self control, and kids hit one another sometimes, and boys-will-be-boys and all that. But at the same time I'm starting to think that this kid is really a sneaky bully... is that possible in a 2-year-old??? I don't know, but I've decided to calmly talk to Colin's teacher today and explain that while I understand kids playing and blah-blah-blah, I would appreciate if they would keep a closer eye on the interaction between the two boys. Hopefully this is just a phase Jackson is going through, and with a little extra monitoring the teachers can provide a little guidance to nip this in the bud.
If not, mama bear is going to come out to play, and it may not be pretty.
Comments