Brawl Baby

I'm going to make a confession. Our little guy isn't perfect. And here's how I know.

At the very end of nursery today he started pulling on another little boy's coat--he even went so far as to unzip it for him and try to take it off of him. Poor little friend--he was very confused why he was getting all of this abuse when all he was doing was standing there, ready to go home from church. From across the room I saw the problem and ran over to intervene. By the time I reached him, David was in tears--heartbroken and even angry. I started to explain to David that this little boy had a coat just like David's--and that David's coat was still hanging up in the coat closet in another part of the church building. David wasn't consoled until he was snuggled into his own identical coat as the one he tried to rip off of his little friend.

Coats are serious business in Alaska. You can't just passively watch someone else leave the building wearing your coat when the wind chill factor is lingering around 0*. Since coming home from church, David has grasped that this little boy has the same coat as he does--because several times he has said his little friend's name in a sweet voice, and babbled on about his coat. So I think now he likes the idea that they share that in common.

But this wasn't David's first time in a tussle today. While he was in nursery, I stepped in to deliver the copies for the wee ones to color after their lesson. David didn't know I was in the room, and I heard, "David don't push C" I looked over, and sure enough a little boy was sitting on the ground and David was standing over him with a guilty complex. I chose to watch for a second. David let the little boy get up, then he looked him squarely in the eyes and said, "Sorry" in the most sincere voice. Then he hugged him.

I was so glad that I hadn't intervened--because I got to see what my boy is made of. All those times of taking David through the motions of feeling remorse somehow paid off when I watched him do it by himself. He did his best to make things right.

And I was so very proud.

I take that back. My little guy is perfect.

In David's defense, he generally is not a hitter or pusher. I dont' know what provoked the pushing incident today--it is completely uncharacteristic of our tender hearted boy. Having said that, I cannot think that my little guy is never at fault for the typical pushing and shoving that happens at this age. David felt challenged twice today, and he responded accordingly both times.