It seems that Timothy has made two good buddies in kindergarten. They are nice boys — they play well together, they’re polite to me and Chris, they don’t swear (except for Timothy, as discussed earlier), they seem to have genuinely good hearts. But I just don’t get boys.
All the behavior I’ve spent the last six years trying to curb seems to be par for the course. They grab their friends’ clothes and swing them around and kick their ankles and play-fight which sometimes results in actual hitting and throw things at each other and use everything from Legos to stuffed animals as swords, guns and bombs. Of course I’ve read books on all this stuff and I knew it in my brain but now it’s actually in front of me and what to do? They need to get all this energy out somehow. But do I step in when Timothy has Alex in a headlock and Alex in turn is chewing on his leg? Or do I let them see this UFC bout through to the end? And if I’m truly this lost already, how on earth am I going to deal with a male teenager? Oh, help.
Disclaimer: I don’t actually let the boys hurt each other or anyone else while playing. In case you’ve ever left your children with me.
