17:17

Amelia Jayne has gotten in trouble a lot recently at school for pushing and hitting. After a few days of picking her up from school and learning that she had been doing these things, I talked to her teacher. I asked if something or someone was provoking the pushing or if she was doing it maliciously. The teacher assured me that she was not doing it maliciously and that there were three of them in the class who push and hit each other. Two boys have a tendency to get in Amelia Jayne's space, so she pushes them away. They've learned how to push her buttons and now do it to aggravate her often. The teacher had said she is learning to remove herself from the situation when they're in her space, for which I am very proud of her. But there are also many days that she is provoking it or joining in.

Before I knew anything about why Amelia Jayne was pushing, I had a conversation with her. It went something like this:

Me: Amelia Jayne, we don't push or hit our friends. We need to learn to use our words instead of our hands when we're angry or frustrated. If you don't like something, tell the other children or tell your teacher, but don't push or hit. Remember our Bible verse?
AJ: 17:17
Xander: No, it's "A friend loves at all times." Proverbs 17:17.
Me: Yes, and are we loving our friends if we push them?
Both: Nooo.
Me: That's right. We're not loving our friends if we're pushing them. And because Jesus lives in our hearts, when we push our friends it's like we're pushing God or Jesus.
AJ: I not push my friends anymo. I NOT push God!

This girl cracks me up! But unfortunately it hasn't kept her from pushing...

On that note, I hesitate to keep her from defending herself. I'm actually pretty proud that she stands up for herself! She can certainly hold her own and I don't want to squash that, yet I also want her to be kind to her friends and talk it out instead of resorting to violence. I know she's only two, but still. If you have any experience or advice with this, do share!