I Hit Him Back--First; And: You've Got a Problem?: Mom Horning Story #6
Years ago, my number four son
(Donald) uttered one of the greatest truths of all time. He was barely three years old. A very quiet child with chickie yellow hair,
blue eyes, pink cheeks, and lots of freckles, he was not tall for his age, but
his determination for justice was monumental.
The first sign of “trouble” was a
knock on our door. An irate mother stood
on the stoop ready to knock again on the door—or anything else. She looked accusingly at me and said “Your
son attacked my little boy on his way home from school.” Naturally, I thought of one of our older
sons, but she spied Donnie behind me and said, “There he is, the Little
Monster.” Her tall, extremely well-fed
seven year old son smirked at me while whimpering up at his mother, “He knocked
me down and sat on me.” I’m afraid at
that point my dignity left me: I laughed.
The angry mother grabbed her son by the hand and left in a huff saying, “It’s
no laughing matter.” When we went back
inside, I said to Donnie, “What happened?”
It seems that the day before, the
Bully pushed Donnie off his wagon and took his apple, so when he appeared
again, as my son related it, “I thought he was going to hit me, so I hit him
back—First.”
We’ve quoted Donnie many times
since, and the truth remains. When
confronted by a Bully, if you think he’s going to hit you hit him back—First.
Little children can be so
wise. Not always subtle, but with few
words, they cut away the fluff, the innuendo, to get to the heart (in more ways
than one.)
When our daughter, Libby, was
small, her father took her to the “Y” kiddie pool. After an hour or so, it was time to go
home. Her “tennies” were tied, but when
Dad was fastening his own, the lace broke.
Never very patient, he “blew his top,” and a spate of intemperate
language flowed. When the swearing
stopped, Libby stared up at him and flashing dark eyes, and with hands on hips,
said, “You’ve got a problem? Solve
it!” With that, she picked up her towel
and little plastic duckie, and walked off towards the gate.
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