For the tenth time that day, my 2.5 year old hit her baby brother.
This time with a spoon. She went to hit him again. I blocked her to keep baby from harm and her spoon fell onto the ground.
My angry child crumbled, face trembling with tears, mouth mumbling “I need my fooooon. I want thaaat.”
“Do you need a hug?” I asked and to my surprise, she said yes. Her daddy hugged her from one side, and I hugged her from the other. She cried a bit. I told her that I love her and all her parts–something I said to her that morning about loving her angry parts, her sad parts, her joyful and silly parts.
I told her I love her so much, I still love her “the most biggest much,” even though she hit her baby brother…and held her little shoulders while she sobbed for a minute.
The crying dissipated, the hug broke up, and we moved back to our individual spaces. Then I heard the most sweetest words, affirming the stronger bond we had built as I shifted to a deeper place of understanding and mothering. As I sat back down, I heard a clear message telling me I am on the right path for me, my daughter and my family.
With a sniff and a sincere sigh of release and return, my daughter said most earnestly, “Thank you, mama.”
[Spoiler Alert: The hitting continues....please stay tuned for Part 2 of My Mothering Madness.]
RESOURCES
- Positive Parenting In Action: Aggressive Behavior
- Gentle Discipline: Dealing with Hitting
- How To Stop 4 Year Old from Hitting Mom
- Marital Hostility and Toddler Aggression
