Hunter ate all of his chicken so we let him go play in the playground. Josh & I were right outside of the glass doors, watching him play and enjoying some adult conversation. A few minutes into this, Hunter comes walking out to me and I said, "Hey bubba, how are you?" Just then a woman across the restaurant looks at me and says, "Uh, he was just hitting a boy over and over up on the equipment." I clarified, "Hunter was hitting another boy?" She was laughing and said, "Yes, I just looked over and he was hitting. It looked funny to me."
I was mortified. I know I immediately turned red. In this moment I knew I had a choice. The Lord is sanctifying my heart by teaching me that I have the choice to react to Hunter or to teach him. It is my natural tendency to immediately wonder what the other parents are going to think of me and my parenting skills. I fear judgement. I fear other people disapproving of me and my family. When I do this, I am forgetting what is most important: Hunter's heart. He needs to learn that hitting is not a good choice, of course. But he also needs to know that Mommy loves him even when he makes bad choices. I want him to know that he matters more to me than what other people think of me. Tonight I got to practice that.
I asked Hunter why he was hitting and he didn't respond. So, my sweet husband went into the play area and found another set of parents consoling their son. Josh helped Hunter to apologize. In the moment I got nervous that other parents were going to act irrational. Hunter has a lot of energy & is a very physical boy. He is learning to control himself but it is a slow process. The other parents were not mad at all and said they didn't see it happen either. The boys were up in the equipment where it is really hard to see. Thankfully, they just said they understood boys did this sometimes.
I was so nervous, but I took myself into that playroom and sat across from the other parents. I took Hunter by the hand and told him I loved him. And after we got through the apology, we moved on. I am so glad the parents were kind-- that helped me to not feel as shamed. I pray that the Lord continues to help me put my son first-- even over and ahead of what other people think of me. Although I do pray that I can learn this without Hunter hitting any more kids!!!
He is a sweet boy and generally his physicality is not malicious. He is just physical and rough. He enjoys it and assumes others do as well. I desire to steer that energy in the right direction....
After this incident, Hunter had a great time playing with the kids and even played a few rounds of hide-n-seek with them. He did great. Until he peed on the slide.
Oh, the joys.
Total side note: A few days ago on the playground, Hunter was hitting a boy about 2 years older than him. I watched him hit several times, not hard, but even when his friend had asked him to stop. I went over and said, "Hunter, why are you hitting your friend?" He responded, "Mommy, I am a super hero and this is my super power!!" I had to keep myself from laughing. I said "Hunter, you need to find a new super power. It is not ok to hit your friends." Josh & I have laughed about this a lot since then!
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