Mean kids

I think I am very lucky with my son. He is nearly two and so far hasn’t shown any of the typical toddler issues, such as biting, pushing, etc. other kids. He is very social and loves playing with other kids, but with one kid in particular I am concerned about having them play together anymore.

Oh boy, that sentence was terrible. = /

Anyway. We went on an outing. Me, my son, my friend and her son. Her son is not much older than mine. On several occasions I saw her son try to bite my son. He also pushed him over and hit him, and raged at him for going near a swing… All this got very little discipline from his mother. I know this behaviour is supposed to be normal for toddlers but I think it is also meant to be discouraged. I can understand if it is to do with playing with toys that belong to the other kid. But in this case, it was on a neutral playground. The other kid got extremely territorial about, well, basically the entire area and any time my son went near him, he went feral. He also pushed another little boy over and made him cry. Again, my friend didn’t do anything.

It’s a touchy subject to bring up with anyone. “Oh hey, your kid is acting feral towards my kid, are you going to let him know that it’s not acceptable behaviour?” I honestly think she knows but doesn’t know what to do about it.

For the meantime, I think our play dates will be limited or suspended until they are a bit older. I sometimes think that her kid just doesn’t like mine. Or any other kids his age…

At times like this, I realise how lucky I am to have not had these problems yet with my boy. But then again, he is still very young so I suppose they could still manifest themselves over the next year.

We’ll see what happens.

~ by dragonflys on June 8, 2008.