Rough-housing

My (barely) one year-old sons are rough-housing already. I call it rough-housing because that’s a positive spin on “hurting each other”, and I’m an optimist. I sigh and tell myself as I pull them apart, “boys will be boys, huh!!!” But again, they’re only one… so I don’t think the influence of gender on behavior comes into play as much as I hope. They do things I’m not equipped to respond to, things I’m half in denial about because they’re so cute. I think, “No… I didn’t just see that happen, he has too much baby fat to strike that fast! Or, “He didn’t mean to push him, he was gaining his balance! He has a hard time understanding his center of gravity in the morning.” However its time I’m honest with myself; they are doing things to one another. Things like stealing toys and retaliating. One using the hair on the back of the other’s head as leverage to stand. Slapping his brother’s back as he crawls by. Pulling onesies until the baby falls over. Pushing. Biting. I’ve even seen a head butt.

I witness these things and think, “What? Why are you doing that, you sweet little baby?!  You are mine, but he is mine too, so don’t!”

Then I reason with these one year-olds in the following ways:

1.    “NO! “

a.    Response: Blank stare followed by another hit to see if I say it again. Here my child is thinking, “that was interesting, I’d like to see my mother in that state of confusion and panic again”

2.    “Play nice! Play nice!”

a.    Response: Crying, or sometimes a continuation of what was occurring. The response to this varies.

3.    Me fake crying (occasionally I am the victim of this one year-old abuse)

a.    Response: one twin laughing, one twin legitimately crying in fear of my unusual, obnoxious, and foreign sobs

4.    “Kiss! Kiss your brother!”

a.    Response: twice I have got them to open mouth kiss. 

 I win. This is clearly the way to go.