He's sharp enough to know who he can bully, and who he can't.
At my mother in law's, he bullies his 5yr old cousin. He snatches his colour pencils, tears up his drawing paper, refuses to share his toys, etc. And my mother in law makes the older boy give in again and again. I don't think this is healthy...but I'm not around when it happens...so nothing much I can do there. However, I put a stop to it when I'm around. And also when we are out and Ignatius has contact with other children.
Not surprisingly, Ignatius behaves much, MUCH better when it's just him and Daddy and Mommy. He listens, and obeys now and then. However, it has always been us being physically there with him, holding him back to let the other kid have a go at the slide first, or removing a toy from his grasp to pass it to the other child, or removing him from the music rides so that other kids who will put in that $1 coin can have a go. Basically, trying to teach him to play WITH others, to share.
On Monday, he showed us that he understands what we are trying to do, and behaved like a really well behaved boy. And we're so so so proud.
He was playing on the slide at the PD's. A little girl, about 13-14mths old came along and wanted to slide as well. Now, she's a fresh "walker" and isn't too good at climbing either. Ignatius could easily have pushed her over and continued playing on the slide. Daddy and Mommy were standing a little distance to the side, and we told him to "wait, let mei mei go first. Ignatius wait". And miraculously, he turned his body to make space for her to climb up and waited for her to slide down before he made his move. And again waited for her to have her turn first before he went down again.
oh my gosh! It's a milestone for us because
1. he understands what we say to him. really!
2. he's starting to come out of the stage where he only plays alongside others, and not with others
3. he's learnt to take turns/share!
I do hope this is not a one-off good behaviour. We rewarded him tremendously, and I hope that the positive reinforcement helped!
