Today my son experienced his first real attack by another child. I say "real" cause he's been hurt by other kids before but they were genuinely innocent however today was not the case.
A friend and I decided to take our sons to one of those children play centres. I've recently discovered these little gems which is a God send cause it allows my son to run, climb, jump, pull and push various objects and himself around a relatively safe environment. At the conclusion of an hour at one of these venues he's usually knocked out for a few hours.
Today was the first time Eli went with another boy and I discovered he was a lot more confident with a friend in tow. He didn't drag me along onto the ball pitt or want me to hold his hand on the jumping castle. I was actually surprised to witness him jumping on it by himself for the first time. He followed and interacted with my friend's child, he basically tried everything my friend's older son did, it was really interesting to watch.
But of course there was a moment a familiar cry was heard, so I went over to my son to see what was wrong. I comforted him and decided to stand close by at this point as my friend and I were sitting in the cafeteria area prior. After some reassurance he went back into the ball pit and shortly after I saw a little girl bigger than him, I'd say probably three years of age pulling his hair. I walked up to her and firmly told her "No! Don't pull his hair." Eli cried again and the little girl's mother made her way over to us at this point. She said nothing.
After comforting Eli once again, I suggested we move back to the toddler area which both Eli and my friend's son relocated to. About ten minutes later the mother and her little girl then appeared. Being weary I kept a constant eye on the kids, the mother however continued to focus her attention on her mobile phone.
Soon after while Eli was sitting on the ground the little girl pushed herself onto him and began scratching his face. I bolted over to where they were, yelling at I believe at the top of my lungs "No! Get off him!!" I grabbed her hand off his face and picked him up. The mother who was only centimetres away from where the kids were and was oblivious to what was occurring right beside her.
She apologised, yelled and smacked her child. The only response I could muster was "Watch your daughter she has obviously been picking on him all day!" Eli was obviously very upset as his face was bleeding from four different scars.
I was fuelled with anger but silenced but the shock. There was so much I wanted to say but found myself voiceless. My friend gave the mother a few words but I'm sure it fell on deaf ears.
The outcome angered me. I already gave her own daughter a warning and physically moved away from her. The mother bring her back around my son but then doesn't watch her own daughter knowing she's had a go at another child at the centre already. I felt frustrated at myself for not saying more to that mother either.
Sure, experienced parents may say "that's what kids do" or "it won't be the last" I can accept that. But this is my first time going through this so let me be mad! But the outcome of this as well is I'm ready to be one of those parents now. Those parents who defends their child at all cost, shameless, abusive and all. If another parent wont teach their child right from wrong and crosses my child's path, expect to get a taste of it from me.
*Exhale*
On top of that had an antenatal appointment today and got some unexpected results. I was reassured its common and nothing to be concern about but hearing discrepancies in key organs was the icing on the cake. I broke down and had a cry with the midwife, I think we bonded a little more today.
I will be repeating some tests just to confirm everything is okay and I will stop googling as it's not helping my fears.
*Exhale*
So a tough day today in mummy land. I'm sure it won't be the last and there will be tougher battles in the future.
