When Munchkins attack
Rant on hold… or in Drudge terms, developing…
I feel as if I am contending with a split personality in the Munchkin. On one hand, she is the sweet, loving little toddler that, while she has hissy fits and problems sharing toys, is generally very friendly and the kind of kid that doesn’t make nursery workers at church grit their teeth at having to watch.
There is another side to her, though, that only seems to come out with our friends’ kids. I have mentioned my Friend and her husband before (she likes cheese, he doesn’t like wearing socks). Their two boys are 2 and a half and just over a year old. The older I will refer to as the Brain and the other I will call Head (think So I Married An Axe Murderer). The Brain is a sharp little boy who loves books and puzzles, while Head shows a decided preference for electronics (having recently broken his parents’ DVD player). We spend a great deal of time with them and the Brain calls us by name, knows that our house has Muppet Show DVDs, and generally likes to come over and play with the toys.
Call me crazy, but the Munchkin seems to think that they are her personal punching bags.
She spends a lot of time with them, so they are very much like cousins to her. But she just turns into this aggressive little monster with them. She does get punished for smacking them around, especially Head, since he is younger than she is. In fact, it got to the point where Head cried when he saw her coming. She likes to kill with kindness – she’s constantly kissing him and patting him on the head. Sometimes those pats have more force in them than they should, and she gets in trouble.
The Brain, being older and stronger, used to be much more aggressive with her. That was at a time when she really couldn’t defend herself, so we prevented much of that. Then she learned to hold her own, and the Brain doesn’t really seem to understand that it’s now okay to defend himself. His main defense at this point seems to be yelling at her, “Don’t hurt me!” This does not work, and she has smacked him a few good ones in the past. She does get in trouble for this, too. But it just seems like whenever they are around, she has to show them who is queen bee and she will run over anyone in her way.
With the Munchkin getting a little brother this summer, she will be even more outnumbered when they all get older. But as Friend pointed out, she seems to have no problem holding her own right now. I apparently am not raising a shrinking violet. I just don’t want her to be an Amazon warrior toddler, either. There has to be a happy balance. If we don’t find it, her brother will need protective gear before he can walk. Or maybe I should start selling tickets to “Munchkin Gladiators” every week. Either way, keeping a lid on her aggression is a challenge around the Brain and Head. It proves to be both humorous and slightly disturbing. I should ask my mother if I did this, too.
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