Thursday, May 03, 2007

What worries me today.

My son's favorite teacher is in the hospital. We don't know what's wrong, other than that she has very high blood pressure.

Yesterday morning, Cami hit me for the first time. Apparently I wasn't getting him his breakfast fast enough. He didn't hit me very hard--a light tap, really. But still. All sorts of things went through my mind, most of them culminating in his eventual incarceration at the age of oh, 5.

I got down on my knees, took his hands in mind and tried to make him look at me.

"No, Cami," I said. "We don't hit. Mommy doesn't like that." All the things you're supposed to say when confronted with a discipline issue.

Last night, after his bath, as Nima was trying to give him a hug, Cami kind of slapped him on the head. And then looked at his father to check his reaction. Again, "No, Cami. We don't do that." Very serious tone. Very serious face.

Is he testing us because that's what a 19-month-old does? Or because he misses his teacher, and when you're 19 months old, you don't understand why someone you love suddenly disappears?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sometimes the child will test you. And sometimes you poke the child on the shoulder in return. Sort of hard, but not hard enough for it to count as corporal punishment. And you laugh. Ha, ha, ha! But in your eyes... in your eyes, the child sees something that makes him a little afraid. There's something behind Mommy's eyes that he somehow hadn't noticed before. And he shivers a little. And he never hits Mommy again.

Cheers!