
You know those people you meet come in contact with and think, "what a jerk!" I sometimes wonder what happened in their life that made them that way. Was it a tragic event? A radioactive spider bite? Nature or nurture that makes them behave so?
Are people just born a**holes? I always said I didn't care if my kids where boys or girls, as long as they weren't jerks. And overall, I think they are pretty good kids. (But then again, being their mother I am an unreliable source.)
With summer around the corner the quintessential kiddie hang out - splash pads are becoming a normal outing for the Linskey boys. For those of you that don't know, a "splash pad" is, think of a giant drinking fountain with water squirting from under ground. Now, imagine several of these fountains with different water pressure propelling some higher and lower. Now, imagine several dozen kids frolicking about said water shoots. Now, imagine me fearing the dysentery or Hep or any number of other contaminants my kids could pick up from this public petri dish.
At this particular splash pad, TW meets a kid, let's call him Dominic (because that's what his mom called him). And Dominic is a jerk. He's about the same age, a little shorter but stockier than TW. He tries to keep my son from playing at one of the water shoots by grabbing his arm. TW breaks free then moves to the next hose. Dominic moves over and screams at his face. So TW moves over, and this kid keeps screaming and following him around until they both make their way around the whole pad.
I let it play out just to see how my kid would react. I was proud of his strategy of non-engagement. A nice juxtaposition compared to the unprovoked shoving of little brother that got him sentenced to 'time out.'
I'm also left thinking that in 20 years, this Dominic kid will probably be at a bar, with his bros, announcing he wants to "punch somebody in the face." Although I hope I can teach my kids de-escalation, at a certain point, I suspect TW will be punching back.
Are people just born a**holes? I always said I didn't care if my kids where boys or girls, as long as they weren't jerks. And overall, I think they are pretty good kids. (But then again, being their mother I am an unreliable source.)
With summer around the corner the quintessential kiddie hang out - splash pads are becoming a normal outing for the Linskey boys. For those of you that don't know, a "splash pad" is, think of a giant drinking fountain with water squirting from under ground. Now, imagine several of these fountains with different water pressure propelling some higher and lower. Now, imagine several dozen kids frolicking about said water shoots. Now, imagine me fearing the dysentery or Hep or any number of other contaminants my kids could pick up from this public petri dish.
At this particular splash pad, TW meets a kid, let's call him Dominic (because that's what his mom called him). And Dominic is a jerk. He's about the same age, a little shorter but stockier than TW. He tries to keep my son from playing at one of the water shoots by grabbing his arm. TW breaks free then moves to the next hose. Dominic moves over and screams at his face. So TW moves over, and this kid keeps screaming and following him around until they both make their way around the whole pad.
I let it play out just to see how my kid would react. I was proud of his strategy of non-engagement. A nice juxtaposition compared to the unprovoked shoving of little brother that got him sentenced to 'time out.'
I'm also left thinking that in 20 years, this Dominic kid will probably be at a bar, with his bros, announcing he wants to "punch somebody in the face." Although I hope I can teach my kids de-escalation, at a certain point, I suspect TW will be punching back.