THAT kid

Yup, I've got that kid. Which one you ask. The one who crazily runs around with boundless energy that is mind blowing to watch. The one who exhausts you just by watching him flit from place to place. Oh yes, I almost forgot, he's also the kid who hits. He hits other kids. He hits me and my husband. Basically, if you are in this boy's arm's reach, you could get decked. I HATE it!It is driving me nuts! I have tried everything from calmly telling him no while holding his hands and getting eye contact to timeouts, to telling him he hurt mommy and it makes her sad, to yelling, to using a firm tone but not yelling. I'd stand on my head and do the coo coo dance if I thought it would work. I make him say sorry after he does it and give hugs and kisses, but he is just not getting it. Now I know he's not even 2 yet and he is expressing his frustration, boredom, yada yada since he can't express himself completely verbally, but enough is enough. I need advice. I do not get offended easily and will take anything you say to heart, so fire away. No, seriously.

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His antics put a blemish on what would have otherwise been a fun weekend. We went to Liz's son Jack's birthday party and I had to follow Nate around like the playground Nazi to make sure he didn't strike (pun intended) when I wasn't looking. The only thing I hate more than that kid behavior is that mom who lets "precious" run around attacking other kids and doesn't do anything about it. So I tailed him and tried to stop him form hitting kids and drinking every juice cup he happened upon. After about an hour I was exhausted and finally got him to stand still for 10 minutes while I blew bubbles for the kids to pop. Liz and I have always talked about how high energy our kids are (Tommy and Nate) and she hadn't seen him in a while so I don't think she knew quite what to expect. She watched him bounce around like a pin ball for about an hour and then said, "You win" to which my bewildered self replied , "That is a contest I really don't want to win". Oh and did I mention while I was talking to Liz and holding Nate he hauled off and smacked me in the face. Yeah, that wasn't embarrassing or anything. Needless to say it was time to go and we went home and I turned him over to daddy because I had had my fill for the time being.**********************************************************

Today we went to a traveling zoo and carnival at the convention center with my friend Joelle and her son Tyler (and the rest of the family too). Things were going great, they were looking at the animals, Nate had ridden a couple of kiddie rides, the 4 of us rode and elephant and we were going to put them on a car ride together. I'm an idiot. I know my son's tendency to hit, why the hell did I not insist they ride in different cars?? Wishful thinking I guess. The ride operator took too long to start the ride, Nate got restless and started swinging his arm and hit Tyler not once but 4 times, in the FACE! Joelle and I ran back in to the ride and swooped a crying Tyler and a confused Natey out of the car. I was so upset and reprimanded him. Tyler was screaming and I brought Nate over to him and said, "You did this! You made Tyler cry. You hurt him". The look on his face was the only thing that showed me he understood even a little bit of his actions since he usually thinks it's funny when he hits.

This was right before the incident. We took Nate aside to get a change of scenery and have a snack and he was acting sad and very cuddly. I hate having to reprimand him like that but I can't have him hitting everyone. We ended up meeting back up with them after our little break but I was just done and it was getting late anyway so we headed out.

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The hardest part about him doing things like that is he is not always that kid. He can be so sweet and caring. He gives kids (and us) hugs and kisses and is just as happy as can be. He is a wonderful eater and and sleeps like a champ. He's smart as a whip, but I think that's part of the issue. I don't know if it is possible to keep him entertained to the point where he doesn't get bored or frustrated. He always has to be going and doing and, before you judge, this kids gets NO sugar. I barely give him juice. Please tell me the magical fix or that he'll grow out of this phase if I just keep being consistent in my reaction. I want my sweet kid to be what people see, not that kid.