Tonight J and I met my parents for dinner and then we walked to the play area at the mall. J was happily playing for a good 20 minutes or so when he had a run-in with The Kid.
The Kid looked to be about 3 and was a little bigger than J. J was just starting to climb up the steps of the big climber when The Kid showed up out of nowhere. He began to push J out of the way and off the steps. I started walking that direction, afraid that The Kid was going to push him completely off the steps, causing J to get hurt.
I had no need to fear. J held on tight and gave The Kid the death stare. The Kid didn't back down and started pushing more forcefully. Just as I was about to suggest to The Kid that he let J finish going up the steps, J had had enough.
J slugged The Kid. I stood there, stunned, for a moment. The Kid did too. Then, The Kid gave him another hard push, so I picked up J and placed him at the top of the steps.
I should mention that I have a little bit of an anger issue when it comes to kids bullying other kids. So, I may or may not have purposely made surel one of J's feet landed on The Kids' hand when I put him down. I know, I know, I'm immature.
I am very proud of my little man. He gave The Kid several chances to back down and not be a jerk, but The Kid persisted. So, J gave him what was coming to him. I would also like to point out that The Kids' dad had a few words to say to his son. I like to think it was "You let that little 2 year old punk rough you up." But, it was probably more along the lines of "Be nice and don't push people."
I hope J always has the strength to stand up for himself - not necessarily with physical force, but with his actions. Whether it be The Kid, drugs, alcohol, sex, politics, or religion (among alot of other stuff), I hope J holds himself to a higher standard and sticks by his own beliefs. As long as he stands true to himself, he could never dissapoint me.
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One of the girls I watch is a complete pushover with her older sister and my kid. She just stands there and whine, so the last couple times they have been here, I have been teaching her to defend herself against them. Like the older sister won't release her from hugs or forces her to dance with her, where as mark takes the toys she is playing with. I am still working on the other two to get them to stop what they do, but mainly working with her to defend herself. It has been an interesting experience.
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