Fight Club!
First, let me alleviate everyone's concerns. I'm not running a toddler fight club like that moron in Delaware.
But Ryan can be a bit of a brute! The teachers haven't reported any issues at school (I've asked) but at home we've discovered that he has quick hands. Very quick hands. And he isn't afraid to use them for a sneak attack. He'll be standing there, or sitting in your lap. Calm as can be. Looking at you with those giant blue eyes... the picture of placid innocence. Then suddenly... BLAMMO! He hauls back and slaps you, exclaiming "OW" with his perfect red lips in a little "o".
HUNH??? What just happened???
I, of course, correct him. Sternly telling him "NO! NOT NICE!" and then putting him down and walking away. His face falls, there's a look of consternation, his lower lip begins a pout, and then the tears start. I give him a minute or so and then go back to him, show him how to sign "sorry" and then we hug.
All better.
But this morning things took a bit of a twist. At breakfast Ryan took a swipe at me and missed, but I corrected him anyway. "No, Ryan. No hitting. Be niiiiice to mama. Gentle. Geeentle." I took his hand and gently caressed mine, showing him how to touch nicely.
Ryan wasn't in that kind of mood, but he was locked in his highchair and couldn't reach me. So... he slapped himself in the face. And said "Owww!" Looking at me with a serious face, and oversized blue eyes, and his mouth in that perfect little moue.
I'm not kidding.
I couldn't believe my eyes, wondering what I was seeing... then he did it again. And again! Each time exclaiming "owww!" as if somehow he didn't realize it was going to hurt. He wasn't crying (he didn't hit himself that hard) but... what the heck??? I told him "NO!" and tried to do the "gentle" hand motion with his hand on his own face, but he wasn't buying it. He pulled his hand away, then slapped again (owwww!).
I gave up and walked away (I didn't know what else to do!) and thankfully he stopped, so hopefully he was just whacking himself to get a rise out of me. But I have to admit, if he keeps it up I'm going to give him a new nickname... Baby Fight Club.
My boys. They just always have to be a little off the beaten path. Don't they?
(Feedback on that last comment is NOT necessary. It was rhetorical. Keep your sassy remarks to yourselves!!! So there!)
But Ryan can be a bit of a brute! The teachers haven't reported any issues at school (I've asked) but at home we've discovered that he has quick hands. Very quick hands. And he isn't afraid to use them for a sneak attack. He'll be standing there, or sitting in your lap. Calm as can be. Looking at you with those giant blue eyes... the picture of placid innocence. Then suddenly... BLAMMO! He hauls back and slaps you, exclaiming "OW" with his perfect red lips in a little "o".
HUNH??? What just happened???
I, of course, correct him. Sternly telling him "NO! NOT NICE!" and then putting him down and walking away. His face falls, there's a look of consternation, his lower lip begins a pout, and then the tears start. I give him a minute or so and then go back to him, show him how to sign "sorry" and then we hug.
All better.
But this morning things took a bit of a twist. At breakfast Ryan took a swipe at me and missed, but I corrected him anyway. "No, Ryan. No hitting. Be niiiiice to mama. Gentle. Geeentle." I took his hand and gently caressed mine, showing him how to touch nicely.
Ryan wasn't in that kind of mood, but he was locked in his highchair and couldn't reach me. So... he slapped himself in the face. And said "Owww!" Looking at me with a serious face, and oversized blue eyes, and his mouth in that perfect little moue.
I'm not kidding.
I couldn't believe my eyes, wondering what I was seeing... then he did it again. And again! Each time exclaiming "owww!" as if somehow he didn't realize it was going to hurt. He wasn't crying (he didn't hit himself that hard) but... what the heck??? I told him "NO!" and tried to do the "gentle" hand motion with his hand on his own face, but he wasn't buying it. He pulled his hand away, then slapped again (owwww!).
I gave up and walked away (I didn't know what else to do!) and thankfully he stopped, so hopefully he was just whacking himself to get a rise out of me. But I have to admit, if he keeps it up I'm going to give him a new nickname... Baby Fight Club.
My boys. They just always have to be a little off the beaten path. Don't they?
(Feedback on that last comment is NOT necessary. It was rhetorical. Keep your sassy remarks to yourselves!!! So there!)
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