As I mentioned in a previous post, T1 tends to be more boisterous than his brother. I’ve heard the words ‘rowdy’, ‘naughty’ and ‘monster’ all being used to describe him. Sometimes, on bad days, even in the same sentence. I prefer to call him ‘over-excitable’.
When he gets bored at home it’s T2 who comes off worst – yesterday he got the Fisher Price garage dropped on his head too many times. Given that T2 is a lot bigger, you’d think he’d say something about it. Instead he sits back and waits for the inevitable plastic toy to land on him and makes no effort to escape or retaliate. But it’s not so bad – you expect a bit of friendly sibling bickering (albeit heavy-handed) to take place. And I’m sure one day T2 will realise that he has the weight advantage and he could easily sit on his brother’s head. Until that day, he has to accept that he’ll spend a lot of time underneath the Little Tikes play kitchen, or inside the big plastic toy box which regularly gets placed upside down over him (while T1 climbs on top of the upturned box and does a little tap dance on it to the tune of his brother’s screams).
The problem is they go to a childminder part-time and there’s another little boy there. I say little, George is actually rather large compared to my two, despite him being about six months younger. He’s stocky and dribbly, and he always has a runny nose. While I’m at home working (not watching daytime TV, honest), they all play beautifully, but the minute I arrive to collect my two, T1 turns into the devil child.
Poor George doesn’t stand a chance. He looks up to T1 and wants to follow him everywhere and doesn’t seem to care that he gets ignored all day long. Until I ring the doorbell. Then, rather than lavish me with cuddles, T1 proceeds (making sure that I’m watching) to throw matchbox cars, toy trucks and anything else he can get his hands on, at George’s head. He follows with an almighty push that knocks him off his chubby legs and leaves him in a fit of tears. The result being more dribble and snot than you’ve ever seen. One day, for the finale, he even tried to sink his teeth into George’s arm as he lay flailing on the floor.
Now the biting has been happening on a regular basis at home too. Often at bath time I see the tell-tale crescent mark on T2’s leg, arm or back, so I figure it’s only a matter of time before poor George starts to suffer (even more) at the hands of my monkey boy. I’ve tried everything to stop him… putting him in the corner and ignoring him then giving lots of attention to the toddler who was bitten and I’ve even tried the mother-in-law recommendation of biting back, but nothing seems to work. He does say sorry afterwards by giving the victim a cuddle and kiss, but then follows this with a little nip on the shoulder for good measure.
Anyone got any ideas how to stop my little biting monkey in his tracks and turn him into the little angel he once was?
