take a bite outta.....

“Lolly doesn’t remember, but when we first met, I bit her cheek and later she wet the ground.”
This line ran though my head about a million times last night. Its from a book that I read over and over in my teen years. The story is about two unlikely friends and how their friendship develops and it was one of my favorites. I often find myself looking back to the book as if it were a catalog of my own memories, only to be reminded that I was neither Pat or Lolly and I don't recall biting anyone. Now though, I can share this story with Giada when she is older and she will be able to relate.

I got to daycare yesterday to pick her up and she bounced over calling, 'Mommy!!'. As I asked her to make sure all her toys were picked up, one of the teachers gruffly told me that she needed to speak with me. Oh boy..... now what?! Last week, they moved Giada's seat because she said that another child kept kicking her. I believe that it was unintentional as they sit them pretty close together and some are more fidgety than others and they had three of them sitting at the end of the table. That's two sets of legs going one direction and a third set going the opposite direction. There is bound to be an issue.

So back to yesterday...."Giada's Mommy..,Giada bit another child today". "BIT? Giada? What happened? Is the other kid ok?" Oh for the love....really? What I got from the rest of the conversation was that the teacher relaying the info was not there when it happened but apparently while the kids were in line, Giada just leaned over and bit the kid in the arm. When asked about it, she said she did it because she wanted to. Super. Do I even need to tell you what my reaction was? All of this on the heels of a dear friend having her first baby yesterday afternoon. This is the thing that you are never prepared for. There is no way to avoid this other than by crossing your fingers and for me, that's worked pretty good for almost four years.

Last week I emailed a friend saying that in a moment's notice, Giada can go from acting like a baby to being a hormonal teenager. I guess this act demonstrates that pretty well....not that I needed an example.

So the car ride home was a 20 min. discussion of who it was, why it happened (still no reason...completely un-provoked) and why we don't bite, hit or use mean words. I was calm but stern because I know that the moment I yell, she clams up and then cries so I won't get ANY info and the discussion will go nowhere. I went on to tell her that we would be discussing it with Daddy when we got home and that was when the waterworks started. Hysteria, gasping for breath...the whole bit. She knows that Kris is pretty good at raising his voice and that's pretty scary for a little girl. I told her that I was sure he'd yell but she needed to be strong and tell him the truth. We then discussed what a proper punishment should be. I told Giada that she needed to write an apology to this child and she had to apologize to him and the teachers again the next day. I went on to say that I would talk with Daddy about what else would happen as a result of this action.

Kris had about the same reaction as I did and he said that the letter wasn't enough of a punishment. I agreed, but really, what else can you do? She rarely gets dessert or treats, so that is out. TV she barely watches and we'd already accepted the invitations to two birthday parties where we're friends with the parents, so not going to those would punish us as well. Kris suggested that we take her bike away. Even though she doesn't ride it terribly often, she loves her bike and after she 'talked' with Kris, taking away the bike did make an impact. She was a very unhappy girl last night and by the time she went to bed, I was just as wiped out as she was.


I always said that if I had a kid, I would never be one of those parents that said, "not my child". In addition to the picture and note she wrote to the little boy, I wrote my own note to his parents. I was mortified that she went so far as to bite another person. Especially when this boy has always been so nice to her and she even admits that he didn't do anything. Ugh. When Pat bit Lolly, she explained that Lolly was a new girl and she was so amazed by her red cheeks. They reminded her of apples and she loved apples and just wanted a taste..... What could Giada have been thinking? I may never know.