Wednesday, 23 September 2009

• Toddler guilt

  Monday K came home from daycare tired (that's normal) and upset (not so normal). It took until he was in bed to tell us what was wrong:

  Daddy: "What's wrong?"

  K -shrug

  D: "Did you not enjoy yourself at daycare?"

  K "I hit a boy"

  D: "Did you say sorry?"

  K: "Noooo...." *sniffle

  Me: "Who was the boy?"

  K: "Yes..."

  Me: "Do you remember his name?"

  K shakes his head and cries a little.

  Later on, I talked to him about it some more. I asked him if he was still sad, and he nodded yes. I told him he could always come to mommy and daddy and talk to us, and we wouldn't get mad at him. I told him it would be okay if he said sorry and shook hands with the boy, and he went to sleep then.

  This morning, when he realized he was going to daycare again, he started sobbing. I asked him what was wrong - apparently he was still feeling guilty. I told him I would stay with him in daycare until he felt better. We went to daycare, but he couldn't tell me which boy he had hit - only that it was a boy in his group. I told him if he saw the boy again, he could still say sorry and everything would be okay (this was all in front of the group, because they were sitting down to have crackers and juice, so the boy may very well have been there). It took almost 15 minutes for him to calm down. Poor baby! At one point, the group was very quiet, and out of nowhere the boy sitting next to K goes "K, do you want to be my friend?" Aaahhh... My heart melted. How sweet! K seemed to feel better then, too.

  K is quite advanced in his talking, but emotionally, he's only a 2-year-old, so although he has words to express himself, he doesn't yet know how to handle these types of situations. My poor little man was riddled with guilt!

  Do your kids come to you when they are feeling guilty about something? How do you help them deal with the situation?

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