It's a Playground Not a Pee Ground
Conflict at the playground: Ian was involved in some kind of incident with a long-haired boy (who I mistakenly called a girl) but his mom and some other woman sorted it out so I didn't pay much attention (I was juggling a soccer ball) until three minutes later when I heard the woman loudly remarking to her friend "but that father just kept playing with his ball while his boy was blocking the step and when I said 'Excuse me, Nicholas wants to get through here' to him he grabbed both posts and wouldn't let go" and so I walked over and said, "You know I can hear you, and I don't like to intercede all the time with the kids, and if you've got something to say you can say it to me" and she said, "If I have something to say to you I will" and then went back to talking to her friend about the consequences of allowing "aggressive behavior" but I found an ally in the other mother that was there-- she came over and made a point to tell me how much she appreciated Alex playing with her son (who had some social problems because he was on the autistic side-- but, if pressed, Alex will socialize with a fence post) and I was starting to feel better about myself as a parent, until Alex ran over and yelled "Ian peed on the mulch" and I realized my rule about being able to pee on a tree if we're outside had backfired, because now Ian was peeing on the metal post of the jungle gym, and then minutes later, sensing weakness in the long-haired boy he had bullied (who I must say, was a head taller and probably a year older than him) Ian slid down the slide and knocked him into the mulch-- but I don't think it was the same mulch that he peed on . . . and while I was discipling Ian for sliding with malicious intent (which he is normally allowed to do, with is brother . . . but considering) Alex was introducing his new friend to tree-peeing, but they were not hidden in the woods-- they were only a couple yards off the playground, so I'm sure that all these moms think I'm raising savages.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
this makes me feel so much better about calvin biting a child for the third time (over the course of 6 mths) yesterday. although it is wrong and he shouldn't do it - i can't take all the responsibility for it, right? he is 2.
ian sometimes bites alex and that gets me angrier than anything else he does-- but i think he's finally outgrowing it, he does it as a last resort and he hasn't done it to any other kids . . . yet.
that was the 'infinite jest' of daily sentences.
nice allusion. i only made it 4/79 of the way through infinite jest. tomorrow's sentence will be short-- unless something exciting happens.
i only made it two book reviews into infinite jest.
Perhaps this was a good lesson for Dad as well. You shouldn't poop where you eat. Unless you plan on taking the boys to a different park in the future, you should try to make nice with the other parents. Otherwise, these uncomfortable situations are going to be more and more frequent. Especially since you are raising a couple of miscreants.
Post a Comment