Recently I took my two boys to a local festival. One of the booths we visited had a toy display set up that kids were able to play with. My 3 year old asked if he could go over and I reminded him that he had to share. He ventured over and started to play with one of the toys. Another child who was about the same age grabbed the ball he was playing with. My boy looked over to me and I told him that there were other balls that he could play with. So he looked around and found a couple more balls and started to play again. The other boy came up to my son, grabbed his ball and then pushed him away. I think steam almost came out of my ears. But my heart just broke.
Needless to say my son started to cry and I called him over. As I hugged him tight, I looked around at the moms that were chatting away and none of them saw what happened. Would they have stopped their child? Would they have applauded their actions? Who is to say?
In this day and age where children are ending their lives because of bullying, why is it not being looked at from how we raise our children. With a household of two boys, there is a lot of fighting over toys. I remind them to share only about 50 bazillion times a day and for the most part they are happy to play with each other.
My hope for my boys is that they appreciate each other and appreciate what they have. I don’t expect them to like everyone they meet but to show RESPECT. In the meantime I will keep hope alive that bullying stops, once and for all.
Chick, bullying is a serious thing - and I guess at that age a lot of Mommies don't consider it a serious problem, but in the end, it should be an issue from a young age because that's where the habits form. I'm sorry you and your son had to go through this, but revel in the fact that you know your son is a good boy and that he's not a bully (even if he gets picked on once in a while).
ReplyDeleteThanks! I am hoping that the values I am teaching him will reflect on the company he keeps.
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