Vocab Man

There was a small altercation at the pool yesterday. One of the kiddies, a three year old known as a bit of a hellion who likes to push and hit, set his sights on Griffin. It started with a few pushes here and there and each time, Griffin came back to me. I intervened, kept a careful eye on G until the little hellion went and found someone else to occupy his time.

I was on the other side of the pool when I heard a loud scream that I instantly recognized as Griffin's. Several kids come running to me at once yelling it was Griffin and he needed me. I race over to G and see Aidan racing after the little hellion who is attempting to escape to his mom. (Good choice child. You would not have been safe with me. Trust me.)

The hellion pushed Griffin and then clawed him up and down his stomach and chest. Griffin had a whole bunch of scratches, two that were fairly deep and bleeding. Griffin was crying hysterically and yelling, "It hurts. It hurts Mom!"

I was so angry that I was shaking. Before I could even think twice about it, I picked Griffin up and comforted him as I marched him over to the hellion's mother. The hellion was hiding behind her legs as Aidan gave an accounting of the incident to his mom. My jaw was clenched with anger. Later, Aidan told me that I looked like my head was going to explode. I barely managed to speak over my anger, but uttered, "Your son did this to my son. Look." I showed her the scratches and she gasped. I then continued, "He also has been pushing him all morning."

And then I walked away without saying another word. I walked back around the pool and sat down with friends who did kind things like fetch band aids and lollipops and talk me down from telling this hellion's mother that her kid needs to be institutionalized.

Griffin cried for a good fifteen minutes. I vented to my friend that I just don't understand how a three year old would do something like this. I can see some pushing or hitting now or then, particularly among a group of boys, but this, it was awful.

Griffin stopped crying, nodded his head and said, "You're right Mommy. He's only three. How could he do something so vicious?"

My friends erupted in laughter. Vicious indeed. Even after a mauling, my four year old remains the Vocab Man.

I had a few choice words I could have added to expand his vocabulary. But I managed to remember he is only four. But I thought them. I thought a whole lot of them.