Lately Jackson and Jacob have been interacting more with their peers. Not just my friends kids but strangers at parks and indoor playgrounds etc. I've found that my kids tend to get picked on.
They tend to get hit, have toys taken, pushed etc. I'm not sure what to do about it. I've done the "well, you'll have to find something else to play with" and the "some kids are not nice, I'm sorry honey" and then I've decided that when my kids come up to me and tell me they've been hurt or had something taken they are asking me to make it right, to protect them and I'm just not sure how to do that.
Usually the parents of these "not nice children" aren't really easy to converse with, telling my kids to hit back isn't appropriate. But, I need to respond. I want my kids to know that their father and I will not tolerate them being bullied but I need to figure out what "not tolerate" will look like. I need my children to know they can come to me and set the expectation that we will create as safe of an environment for them as we can...Any ideas out there?
1 comment:
Your kids are young enough that I think "swooping in" is actually the right play here. I wouldn't expect them to know how to use their words yet, since they don't have many at their disposal. What they do have is you at their disposal, to model for them how to stand up for yourself, and the ones you care about, and let them know that when your kids are involved, play is going to be fair. Sometimes just being close enough to watch, or even "play" yourself is enough to dissolve the tension. It also allows you to be involved without parenting the other kids. And if you are accused of parenting the other kids, you can always defend yourself by saying that you just want to be sure that your kids are learning how to play safely and generously with other children.
There. I haven't been there yet. We'll see how it goes when I have to deal with this.
Post a Comment