Sense of Self and Pie & Chips

The other day something happened that as a parent, I was at a loss- not only as to what to do, but how to feel about it.... If you've read some of my earlier posts you will know that my youngest, Ethan, can be quite a handful at times. He's a "spirited child" we'll say. He spends lots of time in "time out". SO, the other morning I took him to have coffee with my Mom at the local diner, which we do most days after I get the two older kids off on the school bus. Since he goes there often he knows quite a few of the regulars. Sometimes he's chatty and kind, other times he's withdrawn and moody and wants to be left alone. This day he was the latter. My Mom gave him the bill and some cash and he marched off to pay (he likes doing this). As he neared the cash register a customer came in, someone he knows. She went up to him and started tickling and poking him. He made a load whine, ran away and jumped up on my Mom's lap. The lady came over and continued to poke, tickle and annoy him. He said "No" twice and she wouldn't stop, so he hit her. She then said, "ETHAN! That's not nice!" and walked away. Of course I felt obligated to chime in, "That was naughty...we don't hit." But as I thought more about it- why couldn't he hit her? She was violating his space. He asked her twice to stop and she ignored his request. He may only be 3 but he has a sense of "self" and tried in a constructive way to relay his wants/needs and maybe because he's a child she ignored him? Now, it may sound like I sat idly by as my child was being molested by this lady. That's not true. There are many days when he seeks this goofy attention from "the regulars" at the diner, and this incident really happened so fast it was over before I knew what was going on. But it really made me think- I'm trying to teach my children to run, kick, fight, scream if they are ever abducted. But what if they are simply put in a situation that makes them feel uncomfortable? I was watching 20/20 last night and the story about the rapist, child molested terrified me. This man would rub up against children in Wal*mart while their parent's were in the next aisle and video tape it. Authorities only even found out about it after discovering the tapes he made, because NO CHILD, not one, ever screamed for help... there were never any reports filed concerning this. This makes me nervous. Are we so concerned about teaching our children to be polite and respectful to adults that they lose their sense of self preservation? Either that or I just can't accept that my child is a brat......

Ok- on a completely separate and silly note..... look at this t-shirt I made for Ethan. (I made one for Hudson too.)


It's the gecko from those insurance commercials. My kids LOVE him. They are always running around saying, in their best Brittish accent, "It's like getting pie and chips for FREE."