My Baby, the Bully?

Today I helped out in the nursery at church for the first time. I felt so inadequate. I don’t know why really. I think maybe I just need to have more confidence in myself when it comes to children. I am completely fine with Adrianna, even if it is a “learn as we go” thing. But I know her. I know what to expect (usually) and how to handle anything that she throws my way. But I don’t know; I just felt really small today. There were a couple of other ladies working in the toddler room too, and they were nice and everything, but well, I just don’t know how to explain it. I just felt out of place somehow. Hopefully it will get easier with time.

I am not crazy about changing other kids’ diapers either. I was especially nervous about changing this little boy’s diaper. With Adrianna, it is easy – and this is also why I wanted to have a girl first: I am a girl so I feel comfortable that I know how all the girl parts work. Obviously I am not completely ignorant of the opposite sex since I am happily married and all. But changing a boy’s diaper is a whole new thing. I did okay I guess. Except that I learned later from an experienced mom that you have to make sure that the little boy parts are pointing the right direction or they could end up soaking their clothes. Oops. I didn’t pay any attention to that. I guess I will know better for the next time.

One thing I was looking forward to with helping in the nursery was getting to see Adrianna interact with the other toddlers. Adrianna is at that age where she needs to learn how to share. First off, she could not stand it that other kids were sitting in my lap. She tried to push them out of my lap and started crying when I told her she had to share. She also was very assertive when she wanted to play with a toy by pushing other kids out of the way. Not too roughly, but she did cause one little boy to start crying. Twice.

Before you think my child is a complete bully, some of the toddlers also exhibited this same behaviour. I know that it comes with the age. Even though the “terrible twos” are still half a year away, Adrianna is well developed for her age so I think that might help this come into play a little earlier for her. She is as big as the 2 year olds. Even so, seeing this side of her was still a little bit of a shocker to me since I don’t have the opportunity to see her with other children on a regular basis. So we had to start working on sharing with the other kids or being removed from the situation if she wouldn’t share. I guess this will be one pro to her being in childcare, as she will get a regular chance to start learning how to share with other children. Hopefully she will have that lesson learned by the time we decide on having baby #2.

One sweet thing she did though, after she got used to sharing my lap with other children, was that she walked over to where I was sitting on the floor and leaned over and proceeded to give me a sweet kiss. Maybe she was just laying claim on her territory in less confrontational way, but I loved it.