Hitting Problem (Part 2)

Many thanks to the caring mamas for sending me tips and techniques to deal with Dao’s hitting problem. They reiterate and emphasize that spanking him is not the right solution. I was not quite convinced because it is not about me being tough. It’s about getting him to listen. A visit to the pediatrician last Friday, however, changed my mind.

I took Dao in for his three-year check up. He’s doing well. Still growing even though he hardly eats. He interacted with the pediatrician. She asked him what his name and he replied, “Dao.” She asked him his age and he replied “three.” She asked, “Are you a boy or girl?” He replied, “girl.” We laughed.

She asked me if I have any question and I brought up the hitting issue. To sum it up her point was that, “If I spank him, he would think it’s ok to use violence to solve problem.” That makes sense. My wife also told me one time, that Dao was playing with his trains and he told the first train to go, but the train didn’t move. So he said to the train, “You don’t listen. You’re being bad. I am going to hit you.”

Since the heated argument with my wife, I have not spanked him and he has picked that up. He knows he can get away with it. Now if he hit me and I tried to distract him, he would find a way to scratch me. This kid sure knows how to push the button, but I remain as calm and as patience as I could be. We’re just talking to him and hopefully one fine day he’ll snap out of it.