I’m noticing a disturbing behavioural discrepancy in child number three. I can’t say for certain this is directly related to her being a third child because I’m a third child and I have no recollection of approaching a boy at the park, slightly larger than myself in stature and shouting, “Shut up Paisley!” in his face.
For those experts who suggest some of this “bullying” comes from television shows I submit to you exhibit A, the kid’s show A.N.T. Farm.
This is a show about kids with talent, child prodigies who have enrolled in high school at eleven years old to hone their crafts in a program designed for gifted students. Sounds wholesome but the only line my two year old seems to hear is when two fringe characters, cheerleaders playing the stereotypical bossy one constantly telling off her friend who doesn’t know a pompom from a chicken wing and sneers, “Shut up Paisley!” at least twice per episode while the applause-o-metre goes wild.
I’d love to blame television for this lashing out but it doesn’t explain the other incidents.
My two year old spotted a child in the school parking lot the other day and said, “Hey, there’s a girl!” Yes Chloe, there’s a girl. “She hates me!” No, honey, she doesn’t hate you. “She doesn’t love me.” Well, she doesn’t know you. “She’s stupid!”
There was another dramatic encounter at the community play group as a little boy ran past Chloe to get to the finger paint station before it had all been eaten. His running past Chloe didn’t ever reach physical contact but it may have perhaps disturbed the airflow within five metres of my child.
She marched over to finger-fondue boy, hands on her hips and about an inch from his nose screamed, “Ouch! That hurt!” and stomped away (smart thinking) before he had time to paint her face like an angry gorilla with whatever tasty poison remained on his hands.
Then last night after explaining to her how important it is to use manners and to be a nice person she said, “Goodnight Mommy, you’re ugly, ugly, very ugly.”
At least that one came from a book.
