Three issues:
1) Up until about 6 months ago, my 2.5 yo DS was not exposed to much aggressive tv at all (Curious George, Caillou). Little by little he saw more aggressive behaviors in movies (Tale of Despereaux, swordfighting snippet in Singing in the Rain, slapstick Three Musketeers, Chip & Dale/Donald Duck, about 10 min of Pirates in the appliance store
, Aladdin...) Now, he has developed a thirst for sword fighting & dragon slaying.
At first, it seemed harmless enough. It's not like people go around toting swords to pick fights. We explained to him that he was not allowed to hit someone with a stick but to click their 'rapier' and to only poke/tickle the dragon. Unfortunately, he gets quite excited when playing this game and sometimes will hurt others. I've tried to explain to him not to hit 'for real' but he replies "I was just playing." I tell him "papa is not a real dragon, so you shouldn't hit him for real" then show him the difference between hitting for real and hitting the air.
What do I do in this situation? - playing aggressively with some hitting and questionable role play
2) Going hand in hand with this newfound aggressive play, I've noticed his reactions to others becoming more aggressive as well. He has a mild fear of other children he doesn't know (he seems to be afraid that they'll push or bully him - I saw one child push him down a slide
but not much more; he used to be afraid when kids got on the playground equipment with him but he's actually gotten better about that lately 
!) so sometimes when he sees some kids down the street or at the park, he'll blow raspberries at them, pretend to bop them with a stick, or pretend to kick them from afar. When I ask what he's doing he says "they're yucky" and that he wants to "get them so they go away." Another thing he's been saying lately is that he wishes he would have brought a stick so he could hit so and so. For example, we had lunch with a friend who's 1.5 yo. She picked up a toy that he had put down and he had a minor fit and said he should've brought his stick 
. Later, she wanted to taste something off his plate and he grabbed his plate, practically hugging it, then reached over to try to hit her head. I pulled him back, he tried again and again. He had missed his nap that day, so I could understand his being easily frustrated, but his comments really upset me.
3)Finally, sometimes when DS plays with his friends he seems to be a bit bossy. It actually comes off more as him taking the lead as opposed to being a 'Bossy Bessy' though. My issue with that is that when a child doesn't do what he asks (either because he didn't understand him in the first place or because he simply wants to go in a different direction), he'll sometimes grab the other child with all his might
to try and force him to do what DS wants. This is the kind of anxiety similar to when children bite. I think he knows he shouldn't bite another child but squeezes their arm, hand, shoulders instead. I guess I'm not sure what to do to help him with this issue. I'm not sure how much anything would sink in at the moment of anxiety, but I'm curious if there's anything I can do to help him in future conflicts.
I'm not sure if it's just a normal phase or if it has to do with the movies/DVD's he's been exposed to recently, but I do not want these behaviors to continue. Up until this point, he's been a very docile child. DH and I have discussed removing all DVD's that exhibit any level of aggressive behavior from DS's tv options. We will continue to redirect and try to model appropriate alternatives (putting words to feelings, casting a spell rather than slaying the dragon??). What else should we be doing? If anyone has any examples & strategies to share, I'd appreciate them as well.
1) Up until about 6 months ago, my 2.5 yo DS was not exposed to much aggressive tv at all (Curious George, Caillou). Little by little he saw more aggressive behaviors in movies (Tale of Despereaux, swordfighting snippet in Singing in the Rain, slapstick Three Musketeers, Chip & Dale/Donald Duck, about 10 min of Pirates in the appliance store
, Aladdin...) Now, he has developed a thirst for sword fighting & dragon slaying.At first, it seemed harmless enough. It's not like people go around toting swords to pick fights. We explained to him that he was not allowed to hit someone with a stick but to click their 'rapier' and to only poke/tickle the dragon. Unfortunately, he gets quite excited when playing this game and sometimes will hurt others. I've tried to explain to him not to hit 'for real' but he replies "I was just playing." I tell him "papa is not a real dragon, so you shouldn't hit him for real" then show him the difference between hitting for real and hitting the air.
What do I do in this situation? - playing aggressively with some hitting and questionable role play
2) Going hand in hand with this newfound aggressive play, I've noticed his reactions to others becoming more aggressive as well. He has a mild fear of other children he doesn't know (he seems to be afraid that they'll push or bully him - I saw one child push him down a slide
but not much more; he used to be afraid when kids got on the playground equipment with him but he's actually gotten better about that lately !) so sometimes when he sees some kids down the street or at the park, he'll blow raspberries at them, pretend to bop them with a stick, or pretend to kick them from afar. When I ask what he's doing he says "they're yucky" and that he wants to "get them so they go away." Another thing he's been saying lately is that he wishes he would have brought a stick so he could hit so and so. For example, we had lunch with a friend who's 1.5 yo. She picked up a toy that he had put down and he had a minor fit and said he should've brought his stick . Later, she wanted to taste something off his plate and he grabbed his plate, practically hugging it, then reached over to try to hit her head. I pulled him back, he tried again and again. He had missed his nap that day, so I could understand his being easily frustrated, but his comments really upset me.3)Finally, sometimes when DS plays with his friends he seems to be a bit bossy. It actually comes off more as him taking the lead as opposed to being a 'Bossy Bessy' though. My issue with that is that when a child doesn't do what he asks (either because he didn't understand him in the first place or because he simply wants to go in a different direction), he'll sometimes grab the other child with all his might
to try and force him to do what DS wants. This is the kind of anxiety similar to when children bite. I think he knows he shouldn't bite another child but squeezes their arm, hand, shoulders instead. I guess I'm not sure what to do to help him with this issue. I'm not sure how much anything would sink in at the moment of anxiety, but I'm curious if there's anything I can do to help him in future conflicts.I'm not sure if it's just a normal phase or if it has to do with the movies/DVD's he's been exposed to recently, but I do not want these behaviors to continue. Up until this point, he's been a very docile child. DH and I have discussed removing all DVD's that exhibit any level of aggressive behavior from DS's tv options. We will continue to redirect and try to model appropriate alternatives (putting words to feelings, casting a spell rather than slaying the dragon??). What else should we be doing? If anyone has any examples & strategies to share, I'd appreciate them as well.
)
) knowing that it can be eliminated or at the very least, reduced. 
