Thursday, June 7, 2012

Momma Bear

Can we just get real here for a second? Lets talk Momma Bear instincts. Yes, I am THAT mom who is a momma bear to the fullest. When it comes to my precious T Rex monster of a son, I believe he should be tough. He is a boy, and call me old fashioned, but I think its ok and *gasp* actually good for him to fall down, scrape his knee from time to time, get dirty, climb on things, etc. I do NOT baby him in terms of life experiences that will be a valuable lesson to him. Of course, if he is gonna grab a hot item, Im not going to say "Go ahead, burn yourself kid". Y'all get the picture tho. This even comes down to playing with other kids - he needs to learn to share his toys, communicate with other kids, interact and observe, be exposed to colds to build that immune system, etc.

With that being said, I will have you know that you will see the Momma Bear mode come out when a child (for the most part older), jacks a toy from my kid just because they want it, or don't want him playing with. Same goes with if I see a kid hitting Troy, kicking him, whatev. I have sort of gotten used to immediately getting after the kid, in a proper and respectful way of course, and then making sure the parent addresses the issue. Something like "Hey, Rebecca, can you give Troy back that toy and you guys can share?" So see, not too pushy or anything.

Well, I have heard some people tell me they would prefer the kids work it out themselves, or let the other parent handle it and would NEVER confront someone else's kid. Personally, I don't see an issue if the parent themselves aren't jumping on the issue faster than I am.

So I ask you other Momma Bears (or Future Momma Bears)....What would you do?

3 comments:

Megan @ Grimm Tales said...

Recently I have had a family member start to scold my 3 year old daughter for things when I am standing right there. I get a little upset. I am her mother and I will take care of parenting her as I see fit. If she is doing something to harm other children or not sharing or whatever the case, I will make sure she knows the behavior is unacceptable. But, if I were not around while my child was doing something I would welcome another person(family) to set her straight.

I feel like if I am there, someone else does not need to parent for me. And if I am there but didn't see something happen, just tell me and I will take care of it. I'm not sure why I am so protective of my parenting rights. I guess I dont like people stepping on my toes.

Jill@babies, toddlers, and preschoolers, Oh My! said...

i am all about speaking up for your kid especially if the parents are doing anything! its not fair for your child to sit through being bullied! but i also think at a certain age you need to start let the child try to figure it out on their own as well, but im thinking more like 4-5yr olds!

Bethany said...

I am also a Mama Bear. I have no problem addressing a situation that my child is in. Especially if the other parent won't do anything about it. Like this past Friday we were at the park and Carleigh (18 months) was playing in the sandbox. A 5 year old boy came over and started throwing sand and it was getting in Carleigh's face. I politely asked him to not throw sand because it was getting in other kid's eyes. He kept doing it. I looked around for his parent, but there was no other parent in the area but me and the mother of another little girl. He threw sand again and it went all into Carleigh's face. I said "Listen, I have asked you nicely to stop throwing sand. It's not nice and it's hurting the babies. I don't mind you playing over here if you're going to be nice, but right now you're not. So, either stop throwing sand and play nice or take me to your Mom or Dad so I can tell them what you've been doing." His eyes got huge and he ran away and didn't come back.

There's a time and place for children to work out their own problems, but not when one is a lot older or being a really big bully.