"Don’t Hit Mommy"

“Please don’t hit Mommy, Elias.”

“Elias, we don’t hit.”

“Elias Jude Turner. Don’t hit Mommy.”

According to my parenting books, Elias is asserting his independence and expressing frustration by hitting.

He doesn’t know it hurts.

He isn’t trying to be mean, just express himself.

Well, I am not a fan. I don’t want him to hit. I seem to be the prime target. His teachers say he never hits at school. I guess that’s good.

Except I am usually the target at home.

Of course smacking his hands back is not the answer. He is too young for timeout.

So what are we to do? Our current response:

• Ask him to please not hit. 
• Remove him from the situation he is in. 
• Tell him we love him too much to let him act that way. 
• Encourage positive behavior.

Any other tips? So many of you are great moms who have blazed trails ahead of me. I would love your thoughts, shared experiences, etc.

Because I hate that this sweet, joyful boy hits. Not that he does it all the time… just often enough that I feel the need to blog about it. 🙂