Hitting

Sigh...let me just preface this post with a large sigh...

A few months ago Noah began hitting here at home when he didn't like something we said. It was more me than anyone. Occasionally he would hit one of his closest friends, but after reading and taking a step back we tried a few things here at home and the hitting got much, much better. It was pretty much nonexistent...until last week...(long sigh)...

Noah has begun hitting us again and he has tried to hit a friend or two as well. It makes me so sad. It makes me want to not take him anywhere, have zero play dates, and just stay at home, or at least keep things just us... I know this is not the answer, but it is so sad and frustrating to me. Other people and/or their children do not deserve to be hit. Period. I can handle the hitting here at home, but when we are out and about and with friends I just feel so bad for others and I want to bury myself deep in a whole out of embarrassment. 

I have found that reacting the least actually makes it go away much faster than reacting with more intense intervention. This is hard in a group setting though :( I am thankful that what we are doing (and what worked last time) seems to be the consensus from what I read that works well for other children. 

I know that each child goes through phases of these sorts of things, whether it be hitting, biting, etc. and yet even though I know this, it did not help my deflated spirit yesterday as I became sad and frustrated by the return of the hitting. I don't ever want to be the mom and son where people look at us and say, "Oh dear, look at that boy hitting," but in all reality I think that will be us at some point as we work through this. 

From what I have read it seems that the main reason children hit is because they cannot express their frustration or anger. I want to begin to help Noah identify these emotions, but I know that will take time as well. Part of me wishes there was some easy answer that other moms have found, but I know that's not reality and I need to stay as positive as I can with what we are doing. 

I seem to be going on, so I guess I needed to vent ;) Thanks for listening. 

I will leave you with some fun pictures of Noah having some fine motor fun with cheerios and play dough (I just said fine motor...the teacher in me apologizes :)

Obviously a break for eating some was a must ;)

 Focused

Being proud and goofy!