Just wanted to write down some details of our long weekend without him and also document what I've learned about Henry. It's hard to believe there could be more to learn...but everyday is a new day and the boy changes constantly.
I haven't written anything about this because it is a hard thing to admit about your child...but it's happened enough times that I have to come to terms...my son is a hitter. Yes, he's two years old and this is a common enough thing...but amongst our circle of friends, Henry is the only one who does it. All of Henry's friends are very sweet and sure they each have their toddler moments but it usually does not involve hitting. When we go to parks etc. and we are around different kids, sure those kids hit. In fact yesterday Henry got smacked at Central Market by some kid we did not know and his mom was practically beside herself and I told her not to worry, my son is a hitter too. Her reaction was odd but I got it, she said, "Oh, I'm so glad!". What she meant by that was, "I'm so glad you know how awful it feels when your child hits another..and you know I'm doing everything I can to stop this behavior". Yep, I do.
The triggers for his hitting are:
1. He gets excited and is having a great time and then out of nowhere he just smacks whoever he's playing with. It's like when adults are joking and laughing and then one slaps the other on the back ...only Henry's slaps are in the face, and they hurt. And after he does it he stares at the child in bewilderment and watches them cry...like they're part of a science experiment he's conducting.
2. If he gets a toy snatched from him--guaranteed you're getting it in the face. The odd thing about this is he's a GREAT sharer. He will hand over anything if you ask him...but if it's taken, forget it.
3. He's mad at mom or dad (like if we say, Henry, it's time to go) and so he turns to whoever is standing closest to him and he hits them. The kid is smart. This is the ultimate revenge on mom and dad.
He doesn't do it a lot and it's not super strong. But it still upsets me (and surely the other parent).
I decided this weekend that Henry needed a break from being around other kids (as did I b/c I spend my whole time worrying Henry is going to hit them). So Saturday we went to the Nature Center and were outside for hours. He was watching the older children dig holes with shovels (the big kind..the ones you have to use standing up and then you put your feet on them to dig deeply). Well, he loved that and spent 90 mins digging holes. The only way I got him to leave was when I told him we could go throw rocks in the water. So then we did that for an excessively long time and the only way I could get him to stop that was when I told him I'd buy some animal crackers from the vending machine inside the visitors center. To exit the nature center I had to dangle a cracker in front of him while walking and I'd give him a cracker every 20 yards or so and by the time we got to the car he'd eaten the whole bag. This was not my usual way of doing things, however, the manager was kindly but firmly asking us to leave (long past closing time) and I was too exhausted to carry him (it's probably 1/4 mile and that's a long time to carry a child).
Sunday we went to Central Market and I ate like a 5 lb omelet. Henry climbed and jumped on the playground and ran up and down the hill and it was a lot of fun. We both took a long nap. When he woke up we went over to feed the chickens at the elementary school near our house, and played all over the playground. It was a pretty fun, stress free, and exhausting weekend for both of us, and I was rewarded with 11.5 hrs of bedtime sleep with NO wake ups! Wooooohooooo.
No comments:
Post a Comment