Beware of battling kids, and get ready to referee, mediate and intervene
When young buckaroos take the law into their own hands, watch out. If a skirmish flares up, the playing field turns into a scene from the Wild West.
Sometimes I have to slap on my sheriff badge and intervene. I wish I could ride in on a horse.
It’s high noon. They’re hot, tired and hungry. But it’s too late to remedy that and someone has taken someone else’s ball. The kid who was wronged grabs the thief by the hood of his jacket and pulls. I stop him so we can brainstorm ways to solve the problem without choking a person to death.
Two wrongs don’t make a right, I say, channeling my mother back in the day. I get two blank stares, but at least no one’s hurt. “Isn’t it three rights make a wrong?” an onlooker asks, forehead wrinkled in confusion.
Meanwhile, there’s a new shouting match in progress. A kid is standing like a statue in front of a soccer goal, getting in the way of the game. “I want to be the goalie and they won’t let me.” We review taking turns, a concept that eludes some pint-sized but professional-minded players who want to keep their best man in the spot.
Another kid punched someone who’d shoved him by mistake. “I have an issue with rage management,” the 8-year-old explained. The three of us have an on-the-spot therapy session. I pour my heart out and they shake hands in camaraderie just to get out of there. “We’re OK now,” the puncher tells me, “But good luck with that.”
Across the field, kids are playing with cardboard boxes, leaves rustle in the breeze, a second or two passes, then the Great Box War of 2023 is upon us. One group had invaded the other’s “fort” to borrow a stick from their “store.” Now, cardboard parts are flying, someone has kicked someone else’s knee and two kids are sobbing. An occasion such as this forces one to break up the fight with an air horn loud enough to scare the neighbors.
When disagreements arise, it’s always more pleasant if an icepack isn’t needed. Discussing rules before playtime or preventative measures like rock, paper, scissors to decide who gets to play with something first can prevent the need to duke it out later.
“Why can’t we all just get along,” I lamented one day, when an innocent game of checkers turned into a feisty wrestling match.
Apparently, since one thought the other cheated, he’d decided to solve the problem by throwing a checker at the defendant’s eye. “Bullseye,” he shouted, gleefully.
How lucky for me to get free ringside seats to all the fights.
Pam J. Hecht is a writer, instructor and mother of two (but not necessarily in that order). Reach her at pamjh8@gmail.com or pamjhecht.com.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Beware of battling kids -- get ready to referee, mediate and intervene
