Training DayPosted by Kara on February 11th, 2010
I packed Jim-Jim up and took him to a game night with friends, and there was one other child, S, that was Jim-Jim’s age. It was this night that I solved the mystery of why Jim-Jim consistently gets bit at daycare when I witnessed him knock S down to get the toy he was playing with. A toy Jim-Jim previously had no interest in, until he caught S playing with it.
Jim-Jim and S, both 19 months old
Jim-Jim is inches taller than most children his age and has learned to use his size to his advantage. That’ll be useful when he’s sporting a LSU football jersey, but when he’s Bogarting a toy that another child is playing with, not so bueno.
I reprimanded the boy for pushing S around and decided then that we would start working on taking turns. My resolve strengthened when Jim told me the daycare director had pulled him aside and informed him it’s time to work on sharing. Jim gave the daycare free reign to handle it however they saw fit, and we brainstormed how we could work with him at home. How do you teach an only child to share his toys when he has no siblings at home to compete with? Jim tried hoarding Jim-Jim’s toys at first, but after intensive shock therapy, Jim now leaves them alone. My boy is socialized with other kids regularly at daycare, church nursery, and the drop-in sitter we use. But I very rarely have the opportunity to see him interact with other kids and therefore have no opportunity to correct his bully-ish behavior.
When an opportunity doesn’t exist, create one. A great friend, J, offered to sacrifice her son to the training gods, and we created a play date. Much to my surprise, both boys behaved smashingly well, and we didn’t have to break up any skirmishes! No training got accomplished, but that left more time for girl talk.
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Side Note: J would die if people saw her house as messy as it is in the first picture of Jim-Jim. Her house was immaculate before the tornado of toddlers destroyed the place! Thanks for letting us come over and wreak havoc on your play room!