Why oh why must he be a "hitter"??? It's making me CRAZY!
Depending on the day, AJ will either be a "lover" or a "fighter". I never know what I'm going to get when the day begins. Or, there are days when he's both- and that REALLY screws me up. Today, we went to the Denver zoo with Ki & Dax and the boys had a good time together. They were playing and hugging each other. They were both in good moods- of course until we left, which was nap time.
Then, after nap time, AJ woke up and all he wanted to do was hit our poor sweet dog, Buster! Buster is the BEST dog. Ever. Seriously, the best dog. He takes ANYTHING that he's given. I feel so bad for this dog because he will NEVER fight back. As much as I obviously NEVER want him to hurt AJ, there are times when I think to myself "Gosh, it wouldn't surprise me if Buster growled at AJ or snipped a little". And he never has.
Lately, AJ has taken his toys and hit Buster over the head with them. He pokes at his eyes. He is just flat out mean! And OF COURSE I don't allow this... But at the same time, I can't keep my eyes on Buster and AJ every second of the day. So, when I catch AJ terrorizing Buster, I sent AJ to timeout with a serious scolding. Which is now a joke. UGH!!!!!!!!!!! He'll send himself to time out. This is very frustrating to say the least.
Of course, AJ has no idea what he's doing to Buster, because they are actually best friends. This afternoon, we all went to the park together and AJ was absolutely LOVING "walking" Buster. He holds Buster's leash and walks him. I taught him how to pat his leg- meaning "come on Buster" and he was doing it all afternoon. He was taking Buster for a run at one point and they were both so happy! He really can be a nice boy! (When he wants to be.)
1 comment:
I'm so sorry you are dealing with this. I honestly think every parent does at some point. I remember reading one of my friend's blog a few years ago when her daughter was Preston's age at the time, and she wrote this blog about how she went to the doctor's office and her daughter just kept hitting her in the face right there at the doctor's. She tried to keep it together, but seriously how do you discipline in public without embarrassing yourself but dealing with a toddler who is hitting.
I think all kids go through it. Preston has hit here and there, but boy do we grab his hands and immediately so "No No! You do NOT hit".
But then, I realize that I sometimes do things that might make it seem like hitting is okay. Like I'll playfully hit Will, or when we play with Preston mabye I will do something that to HIM seems like I'm hitting but I'm not. And then I realize 2 seconds later I'm getting mad at him for hitting me....when HELLO he is totally copying me.
We've been teaching Preston the words "Soft" and "gentle" and when he hits we try to first tell him no he shouldn't do that, and then show him how to touch softy.
I've also noticed that SOMETIMES (not always) if I show him that he "hurt mommy" he stops. Actually, one time he hit me right in my eye and it was open and it stung pretty bad. I kept saying "owe, owe, preston you hurt mommy" and hekept looking at me. But sometimes he thinks it's funny and laughs...which is irritating! LOL
Anyway....know that you're not alone in this! You're a good mom for trying to catch him when he does it and fix it. I think the more we just try to teach them that it's wrong they'll hopefully eventually understand.
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