Today Marley gave her Friend Mia a bloody lip.  I’m sure it was an accident, but Mia was crying and I asked Marley what happened, and her answer was, “I push her.”   How did I respond to this?  I took her aside, asked her if she really pushed her, asked her how’d she like it if Mia or another one of her playmates pushed her, and then made her apologize to Mia.

It seems like Marley is becoming more and more of a bully.  At first, I thought< “Good, she’s always been the one the other kids bullied.”  Now, she’s started to do it on a regular basis.  Just yesterday, she pushed her little brother’s face in the dog water and tried to sit on his head.  She is constantly beating him up.  On our last trip to California, she played rough with boys twice her age and twice her size just like she was one of them, and even got her first bloody nose from a kick to the face.

I’m not sure if I should be worried or not.

My Marley is a beautiful little girl and I want to know that she can stand up for herself and protect herself.  She rough houses with her dad, (really rough) so that’s probably where she’s learned to grow a thick skin.  I’ve even read parenting articles that say it is especially important for kids to rough house with their dad.  Rough housing teaches both self confidence  as well as respect.  She’s also very little.  She can still fit into a lot of her size 18 month clothes.  She’s all arms and legs, but she’s quick, tough, lean, and limber.  She can even run 2 miles.

I guess all I can do now is to keep an eye on her and make sure she realizes that some kids don’t like to play rough.