Bite Mommy!

A few days ago, Elijah received a time out because he tried to bite mommy. He knows that biting is not allowed and as soon as he tried, I sat him down on a stool and told him to stay there. He sat there and cried. After about 10 seconds (I usually count to ten), I went back in the room, picked him up, and consoled him. I tried my best to let him know that it is okay to be mad, but that he cannot bite mommy or others. After he said sorry, we quickly moved onto playing.

He woke up in the middle of his nap crying. He showed me his finger and said, "Ah-ya (ouchie)". I think he may have bitten his finger in his sleep....not sure. I picked him up, tried to console him, but he was really upset. He kept saying, "bite, bite." So I wondered if he was teething and needed something to bite. So, I gave him something to bite. No luck. He kept crying and seemed to be getting more upset. Then, it dawned on me that maybe he was still processing his time out and what had happened. So, I asked him. "Elijah, do you want to bite mommy?" He stops crying and says, "Yes!" He was still angry at mom, I think.

So, I held him and said, "Elijah, I'm sorry that mommy made you mad. It's okay that you are angry with mommy, but you cannot bite her. I'm sorry that you're so mad." He kind of nodded his head, calmed down and just whimpered a little and pointed back to his bed. He was ready to go back down for his nap.

I am sure Elijah that this won't be the last time that you will be upset with mommy. It's okay that you become upset with her and that you let her know that you are. Your attempt at biting mommy was probably your way of letting my mommy know. You can say the words, "bite, hit, and mad" to let mommy know that you are angry. But, you cannot hurt people as a result of your anger. I guess we will both continue to learn about how to be angry but not sin as we grow in our relationship. I love you, sweet son.

(Added note: Yesterday, I saw him exercise self control. He got frustrated while playing with his trains Thomas and Percy. They're of different size so sometimes they don't move well together. After a few attempts, he was really frustrated that they kept coming apart. So he wanted to throw them. He had the the two trains in his hands and in motion to throw, but he didn't. I saw him and asked him, "Are you frustrated and you want to throw?" He says, "Yes." I said, "Good self-control Elijah. I'm glad that you didn't throw even though you are frustrated. Can mommy help you with something?" I can't remember what happened after that, but all I remember was thinking, how proud I was to see Elijah exercising self control. He motivates me to be a better person.)