help a brother mother out

what do i do?!?!?

note: the victim was a sweet little girl in the one year olds' class (why didnt he just push layla! she's in that class too, at least then it would be something that makes a little sense: sibling rivalry). apparently this is the second day he has targeted this same little girl and shoved her out of nowhere on the playground.

i always prepared for and worried about judah getting hurt by other kids. remember the girl at school who repeatedly targeted him when he was 9 months old and BIT him two different times? first on the head (seriously?!?!?) and then a few days later on the hand...breaking this skin, no less.

but somehow i didn't play out the scenario in my head where he is the one hurting other kids. (1 year old girls, especially!) this is terrifying and i feel SO awful for the little girl and her parents. we have obviously never modeled shoving and in fact have been really consistent about telling him that hands are for high fives and hugs, never for hitting of pushing. but i also remember how terribly i thought the parents of the biter must be. now i realize it's freaking hard to control a 2 year old!

so he went rogue this week and i just dont know what to do know. the child is not even 2 and a half yet, so much of what i would like to say to him, he wouldnt really understand. my first instinct yesterday was to talk to him about it in the car and then to keep going over and over it again and again to really make him miserable to pound it home. but after two rounds of that i knew we were getting into, "parents, dont frustrate your children" territory and i just let it go since he seemed to understand the basics (me: "judah do we push people?" judah: "NOOOOOOO").

but i would have bet money that he knew those basics before too. and he still did it. twice. to the same little girl.

i KNOW that my kid is sweet and loving and has had great examples all around him, but i also refuse to be a parent blinded by love and a a refusal to see the reality of things when they are less than my expectations or wishes, when there is a problem with my child's behavior or heart (sin is a heart issue that goes way deep even in precious kids, after all). i just want to encourage him to rely on his healthy and loving reactions and behaviors rather than the impulsive, unkind broken ones.

we are so thankful that judah has the exact 2 teachers that he does. they are amazing and we love them. they handled it JUST the way i would have hoped for and tried to do it myself: lovingly pulling him out of the situation, correcting him and offering a positive alternative and a suitable 2 year old punishment. and they communicated via note and face to face with us in such a positive and encouraging way that didnt condemn us as parents or judah as a kid. we LOVE yall, ms. R & ms C (or is it a K?)!

so what do i do? does he have a bully gene to be doing this out of the blue? is this a freak thing that most kids go through and nothing to really worry about? calling all reinforcements, teachers, moms, HELP!!