Monday, November 12, 2007

Short-Baby Syndrome

Elle may be petite, but what she lacks in size, she certainly makes up for in aggression. Yes, I have that child, the one who is always in other kids’ faces. I’ve read all the books that say children this age are only interested in parallel play, but Elle is much more interested in other children. She doesn’t just want to play next to them; she wants to play with them (and sometimes that means grabbing their faces or pulling on their limbs). Elle loves music, so the other day, we took her to a sing-along outside Pottery Barn Kids. She, of course, wanted to run around with all the kids twice her size and dance (bounce up and down and spin in circles). I was trying my best to chase her and keep her from coming in direct contact with other kids, while at the same time letting her have fun, but at one point, she got away from me and went right up to a little girl, who looked about 4, and pushed the girl in the stomach (not hard, since she’s so little, but it was a push nonetheless). I quickly grabbed Elle and apologized to the little girl. She just stared at Elle with a look of complete disbelief. I’m sure she was shocked that this baby half her size would dare to even touch her. The girl just kept staring, so I apologized again and brought Elle back to where we were sitting. I am not a very aggressive or even super-outgoing person, so it still amazes me that my little girl can act this way. No matter how many times I explain “being gentle” to her, she seems to have a hard time getting the concept (and trust me, I explain it to her many, many times a day, since I watch a little boy who is only 7 months). I know she’s only 13 months, and it’s hard for her to understand, but I keep wondering if she will ever be more gentle to other kids, if I will ever be able to stand back and just let her play (rather than playing defense for the other kids in her path!). And I know that a lot of kids go through a similar stage; I think it just seems worse to me sometimes because usually Elle is only around babies who are younger than her. Kyle keeps telling me how great it is that she’s so tough (she rarely cries when she falls or gets hurt), and he just knows she’ll make a great point guard on the basketball team. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see (and keep reminding her and reminding and reminding her to “be gentle”). I don’t think the 4-year-old girl minded too much. After a few minutes, she marched right up to Elle, smiled at her, and pulled her shirt over her head again and again. In a few years, I’m sure I’ll have to work on that behavior too!

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