[edswife]

DS (19 months) and I were at a LLL meeting yesterday. There was a 20 month old little boy there who kept pushing and hitting DS. My son had to be 10 lbs and 5 inches bigger than this kid but he's a pretty gentle boy most of the time and took the abuse well for a kid his age for about 15 minutes. He kept telling him "No hit" and "leave alone" and "Top!" (stop) and finally I guess he'd had enough and he pushed him down. I was torn as to how to deal with it. I wasn't going to remove him from the toys and other kids b/c he hadn't done anything wrong (IMO the other kid should have been removed long before). He isn't a pusher/hitter and he only does it when he's really provoked. I'm not sure how I should have handled it. At 19 months he's old enough to understand that we don't hit/push but I've got to be honest, in some situations I want him to stand up for himself. How would you have handled it?

ETA the other mother was only making a half a**ed attempt to stop the behaviour.

 

[monkey's mom]

Unfortunately I think you need to be the one to step in and protect your kid if the other parent isn't.

There are lots of choices btw. removing your kid from the toys and having him hit back, you know?

Could you have moved her kid? Asked her to intervene? Moved the toys and your kid? Told her kid to stop? Physically blocked her kid? Sat where your child was protected by your body? Asked other parents or Leaders to help mediate?

I think that age is too young too let them fend for themselves.

Good luck! It isn't easy!

P.S. I *love* your sig!