Sam Dukes It Out

Last week I took Sam to the mall. It's a good way to kill some time until spring comes and we can FINALLY play outside!

We went to the play area first. Sam ran in without any hesitation. I was barely able to get his shoes and coat off before he wedged himself into a tunnel. I sat on a bench and watched him play.

He got in the line at the little slide and waited his turn. He saw a couple bigger kids go down the slide backwards. He fumbled his way up the three stairs and sat down. He tried to turn around so he could go backwards, too. The little girl behind him, tired of waiting her turn, gave Sam a push. The slide turns to one side, so instead of pushing Sam down the slide she pushed him right off the top.

He only fell about two feet onto a padded floor. That didn't stop me from wanting to dash over to him, throwing stray children out of my way, and scooping him into my arms. But as I've said before, I'm a hands-off mom. I simply sat where I was and waited to see what would happen.

Within a few seconds, I saw his dark head come up. He was so sad, he couldn't cry. He rubbed the back of his head, little bottom lip trembling, and looked for me. I caught his eye and smiled at him encouragingly. He whimpered and ran over to me. When he was about five feet away, he was distracted by two little boys in an airplane. Forgetting he was injured, he gave me a half-hearted, drive-by hug and cheerfully scampered off.

After the play area we went to the bookstore. Their children's area has a train table and Sam knew right where to go. There was another boy already playing. His mom made sure Sam got an engine to play with and I again sat down to watch.

Sam pushed his engine around the tracks. The other boy was running around the table and each time he'd come up behind Sam, he'd scream. A few times, he tried to push Sam. Each time Sam looked at him like he was crazy and solidly stood his ground. Eventually, the other boy grabbed Sam's train away from him and went around to the other side of the table.

Sam looked at me and I looked back at him blankly. He must think I'm worthless! How can I explain to a two-year-old that I'm trying to let him fight his own battles? Anyway, Sam saw that I was not going to help him. As the other boy played with the train he had stolen from Sam, Sam simply picked up the other boy's discarded train and again began to play.

Seeing Sam pick up his old train pushed the other kid over the edge. He threw himself on the ground and screamed. He threw Sam's train across the floor. Sam walked over to him and tried to give him his old train. The boy continued to scream. Finally, the boy's mom took the train from Sam. Sam then walked over, picked his train up from where the boy had thrown it, and continued to play.

Sam is the most rational toddler I know!