Face-offs with the other parent—ooohhhh those quintessential awkward moments of parenthood, where you wish your kid hadn’t done that… The tale of Rumpus King Gavin comes from the Land Down Under. Graphic artist Lana in Brisbane is the mother of two boys and has a brand spanking new blogsite, Toot Kids: Happy that Our World Is Big, which will feature fun videos and activities that teach children about different cultures.
There was this restaurant called Shady Grove and they had these kids tees that said “Little Shady”, which I thought was perfect for Gavin. When he was younger, one of the teacher’s assistants at his preschool warned other kids, “Don’t make him angry.”
Recently, while we were waiting around after a soccer game, there was a boy who, probably bored, started whacking on a tree with a branch. A parent tried to ask the boy to stop, but walked away when the boy refused. Gavin also noticed this destructive boy, and since they had just been taught at school to respect nature, decided to approach the boy and ask him to stop bashing the tree. The boy refused and Gavin tried to take his stick away. When the boy dug his cleats into Gavin’s bare feet, Gavin kneed the boy in the groin. The boy ran crying to his mom, and the next thing I see is the mom demanding to speak to Gavin’s father. We hadn’t witnessed all the action as it unfolded, but heard it recounted when the mom requested an apology from Gavin. When it became clear that her son wasn’t completely innocent, he ran away when she asked him to apologize too.
Gavin was probably tired and bored on this day too, but he has a strong sense of justice, and is a bit stubborn too. Since the boy was younger than him, he must have thought it was his place to police him. Peter thought this was boys being boys, and we knew that Gavin doesn’t just go around randomly kicking people, but he also sometimes doesn’t know when to walk away.
It’s always awkward to help them work out these conflicts, and it makes things very awkward sometimes as parents. For the record, I don’t hit my kids, but I have occasionally lost my patience too. I’ve adopted the “sharing your feelings” philosophy that we teach our kids, so when I get irritated with the boys, I will actually just say, “I’m getting very angry because you are not listening and cooperating, etc, etc.” They understand this, and it’s better than me just losing it.
Got a beastly tale to tell? Once a month Konga Line shall crown a wonderfully beastly boy Rumpus King and a gloriously beastly girl, Rumpus Queen. Send in stories of your little goblins for a chance at the crown. If your mini-monster is named Rumpus Royalty, I’ll post your terrible tale and send you a fabulous FREE KONGA TEE of your choice.