With the weather nasty and rainy for weeks(when we returned from The Bahamas to be exact, is that a sign?) and Tyler wilder than a caged velociraptor, we decided to head to the mall to let him release some energy. From the moment he heard where we were going, all he talked about was playing on the indoor playground (aka 300 feet of rubberized climbing toys covered with every germ known to man and packed with unimmunized screaming kids all with cabin fever racing around while there parents sit on the sides rubbing their temples vaguely watching them while talking on their cell phones). So we were all excited to go...
Once we sanitized and took our respective seats (I left Carson in the stroller beside me too afraid he might reach behind and lick the seat and catch something), we tried to sit back and relax and enjoy watching Tyler play. And then it happened. I knew it would. It was just a matter of time. Tyler was getting bullied by some kid that looked at least 7 or 8 years of age. Now Tyler is big for his age- he can easily pass for 4- maybe even a really small 5, but he was not even close to this kid. This kid was getting off the airplane toy when Tyler started climbing on. Only when Tyler started to take a turn did the kid try to re climb and start telling Tyler to get off and that he was there first. With Tommy and I both only maybe two feet away, I could see every expression on Tyler's face. He looked anxious and confused and not having the maturity to verbally match the kid- he then just looked defeated and started to climb off. I could feel myself tense and my eyes felt strained, like they were dilating. For the Twilight readers, imagine Edward smelling blood or Jacob seeing a vampire. Same physiological reaction. I am his mother, that is my excuse. An inborn instinct to protect my young ingrained biologically for centuries. However strong the tendency was to react by pulling the kid off the toy by his young throbbing earlobe- I sat repeating to myself "Unless Tyler cries or it turns physical- I will not get involved. Let Tyler try to work it out. Let Tyler fight his own battle." Ready for the next part? As I am finally sitting back in my seat feeling good at my decision, I realized I should have been paying more attention to Papa Bear. Tommy was leaning forward as close to the boy as humanly possible without touching him, nostrils flared, glaring and hissing for him to get off the toy and leave now.
Needless to say- the boy left and Tyler remounted the toy. I am not really sure the moral or point of this post. I guess some might take from it that we are really immature and just bullied an 8 year old for bulling our 3 year old. Others might take a scientific perspective and come to see that the father also has really strong protective tenancies - and it is not always the mother baring teeth. The obvious message is this...don't let your overgrown kid bully my son or my overgrown kid will give him a verbal thrashing and he will never want to play on the airplane again. So there.
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2 comments:
Ok, As I read this I kept waiting for the part when you say, so Tyler took a swing at the kid, kicked, or bit him. So now I refuse to let Tyler come play with Andrew because I don't want Tommy in my face telling me to control my son when he turns into that other kid... cause the stage we are in (or at least I am hoping is a stage) makes me think that Andrew is headed down the path of being "that" bully kid, despite his average to smaller size!
Oh, and go back to the Bahamas and take the rain with you!
First of all I can't believe you kept your cool-secondly, I guess now that "bully" knows how it feels, right? Yah, let's say that. When we were in Savannah, Abram fell on one of those playgrounds and I told him to shake it off while everyone who saw the fall gasped. I thought he was okay until the goose egg popped up-then I took my #1 mom ribbon and we left asap.
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