The first rule of Baby Fight Club is - you do not talk about Baby Fight Club. The second rule of Baby Fight Club is - you DO NOT talk about Baby Fight Club.
As someone once observed about my child, it's not very often that he shows any dominance or "alpha male tendencies" towards other kids. As the youngest kid in his playgroup, I watched in heartache as he amicably handed over toys and snacks to the older, agile boys. I wanted so bad to teach him to stand up for himself, but how to do that without looking like the big, bad bully mommy???
Trust me, he most certainly didn't get this "give peace a chance" demeanor from my side of the family... and quite frankly I had no idea how to handle it. I'm far better equipped for getting someone to calm down rather than lighting a fire under them.
Luckily, I didn't have to do anything at all. Over the last few months, I've witnessed a change in him. He still doesn't instigate fights, which is GOOD, but he's no longer one to accept someone taking his beloved dog, Blue away from him or anything else, for that matter...
Still one of the smaller kids in his playgroup, but strong for his age, he initially developed a tactic of grabbing on to the other kid's shirt and pulling him down to the ground. At which point, my son will grab back his toy and run off. Completely genius if you ask me, but of course, I'm biased.
I've notice that each of the other kids have developed their own trademark tactics. One bites. One hits. Another throws. The biggest kid of the bunch, who never has to fight for anything, just climbs on the furniture. (Not really fighting, but that's just what he does...) They all SCREAM.
Each kid seems to take their turn being the provocateur, but once the fighting begins they all jump in. It's cunning. It's merciless. It's every baby for himself. It's over as quickly as it began.
I recently noticed that my son has developed an entirely new strategy all together. At last week's playgroup, he begged for a snack from the mommy hosting it at her house. Once he was given something to eat and asked to take a seat at the kiddie table in the kitchen, the other boys were intrigued and started begging for snacks too. While they all sat at the table munching on grapes, crackers, and cheese, my son slipped out of his chair unnoticed by the rest and ran back to the living room to play with the now abandoned toys. Again, my child is obviously a genius or an evil mastermind...
Maybe he has picked up a thing or two from me after all.As someone once observed about my child, it's not very often that he shows any dominance or "alpha male tendencies" towards other kids. As the youngest kid in his playgroup, I watched in heartache as he amicably handed over toys and snacks to the older, agile boys. I wanted so bad to teach him to stand up for himself, but how to do that without looking like the big, bad bully mommy???
Trust me, he most certainly didn't get this "give peace a chance" demeanor from my side of the family... and quite frankly I had no idea how to handle it. I'm far better equipped for getting someone to calm down rather than lighting a fire under them.
Luckily, I didn't have to do anything at all. Over the last few months, I've witnessed a change in him. He still doesn't instigate fights, which is GOOD, but he's no longer one to accept someone taking his beloved dog, Blue away from him or anything else, for that matter...
Still one of the smaller kids in his playgroup, but strong for his age, he initially developed a tactic of grabbing on to the other kid's shirt and pulling him down to the ground. At which point, my son will grab back his toy and run off. Completely genius if you ask me, but of course, I'm biased.
I've notice that each of the other kids have developed their own trademark tactics. One bites. One hits. Another throws. The biggest kid of the bunch, who never has to fight for anything, just climbs on the furniture. (Not really fighting, but that's just what he does...) They all SCREAM.
Each kid seems to take their turn being the provocateur, but once the fighting begins they all jump in. It's cunning. It's merciless. It's every baby for himself. It's over as quickly as it began.
I recently noticed that my son has developed an entirely new strategy all together. At last week's playgroup, he begged for a snack from the mommy hosting it at her house. Once he was given something to eat and asked to take a seat at the kiddie table in the kitchen, the other boys were intrigued and started begging for snacks too. While they all sat at the table munching on grapes, crackers, and cheese, my son slipped out of his chair unnoticed by the rest and ran back to the living room to play with the now abandoned toys. Again, my child is obviously a genius or an evil mastermind...
3 comments:
Clever young man...My Little Man is to sweet at the moment, but I think soon he will follow Miss Peach's lead and I will have a pair of little ones spending their days chanting "No" and "mine" on my hands!
Rock on, little Machiavelli!
My son used to be the same as yours...kids would just take his toys away. I didn't want to turn him into a bully, so I taught him that when someone takes his toys away he's to say "NO! It's my turn now! You play later!" To my astonishment he does this, the kids tend to respect him more AND it puts the mother of the other child on the spot. So I don't have to be the bad guy all by myself.
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