Pookie broke a major rule tonite. He hurt someone for the sake of hurting them.
He was upset because he spilled water from a squirt gun on his pants and could not get the squirt gun to work. When things frustrate Pookie, he often goes off the deep end, blowing things out of proportion. Usually it does not last long, but he will cry buckets of tears if his block towers fall over or if the leg keeps falling off of his Connect Four game. We think its because he does not know how to express it in words.
Tonite, when he was frustrated, he got very angry and was yelling. BAGD sent him upstairs to lay on his bed and calm down. No punishment, just to calm down. Usually, removing him from the situation helps and he regains his composure quickly.
Not tonite.
As soon as he started up the stairs, I turned my attention to the kitchen sink. I barely caught a glimpse of him a few seconds later as he darted down the stairs, down the hall and full body checked Giggles right into the hardwood floor. Poor girl was just standing there, minding her own business, trying to put a sequined dance costume on by herself.
I raced to pick her up, BAGD raced to catch the criminal, who was already back upstairs after is daring drive-by pushing. Giggles was so upset that she could barely catch her breath. She was fine, physically, but scared. After a few hugs, she saw that I had been washing grapes in the sink and wanted one. That cheered her up.
BAGD made Pookie come back downstairs and apologize. Then he was sent back upstairs to again regain his composure.
The interesting thing about this situation (and I apologize to grown up Giggles who will read this in a decade) is that we did not punish Pookie. He pushed Giggles as a way of communicating his frustration. He did it to get a response out of me and BAGD. Giggles had nothing to do with the situation, other than that Pookie has figured out that she is vulnerable and that we will respond if he hurts her. Tonite was the third time he has done it in the past 3 months.
All we can do is try to teach him how to communicate properly; how to deal with frustration properly. It all goes back to the squirt gun and his inability to make it work. He knows Giggles had nothing to do with it. He pushed her because that was something he could control, when he could not control the squirt gun, his frustration or his ability to explain it in words.
At dinner, 20 minutes later, I asked Giggles if she loved Pookie and she said “Yes, I do.” I asked Pookie if he loved Giggles and he said “yes.” So, we are all OK.
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