Gentle Touch
Friday, April 29th, 2016From Friday Mom – Erin:
It really does seem as though there is a rash of toddler misbehavior plaguing our mommy bloggers. Although Rory, fortunately, hasn’t bitten anyone recently, it’s our little girl who has run into behavior problems lately. Likely a function of how much she and Rory wrestle and roughhouse at home, Charlotte is inclined to tug on her friends or even crawl over and/or sit on them at daycare. The absurdity of it is that she is about half the size of most of her classmates, many of whom ought to be able to shove her off easily. However, she is the only younger sibling in her current classroom– the remaining children are all first children that haven’t been subjected to the rough play of their older siblings.
I don’t say that to excuse the issue, but it’s been an interesting obstacle to work through with her teachers and at home. Her teachers all readily accept and willingly agree that it’s good to have a young girl with such a strong and confident personality. They also admit that they find it humorous to watch her take down kids twice her size. But, they also have a classroom to oversee, discipline to instill in these children, and, obviously, the health and safety of the other children to protect.
At Charlotte’s age, redirection really is the only way to combat Charlotte’s combative ways. We’ve been trying to work with Rory on teaching her the importance of gentle touch and to tone down the rough play at home. But, I have to admit, I want her to be able to stand up to her big brother, so it’s quite the balance to try to strike. We’ll continue to emphasize the importance of using words to talk through conflicts and being gentle to one another. For now, that is probably the best we can do.