A bad report

Every day I look forward to the 1/3-page report sheets I created for Noah's babysitter to fill out. They detail the mundane and interesting about his day, from what he ate, to how many diapers she changed, to the fun activities they did that day.

The report also has a spot for "Any issues?" and "Overall Mood?" From the time Noah was seven months old (when he started at his first sitter) until now, he's never had ANY "issues" per se. Usually, the reports glow with phrases like "So happy!" or "Noah told me he loved me three times today" or other sentiments that warm a person's heart.

And then on Thursday, I showed up to an excited Noah but with this report from the sitter:

"For the past 2 weeks, Noah has been wrestling, pushing, hitting & bopping with objects, but usually playful. That sometimes goes wrong, but today there was quite a bit of pushing, hitting and slapping and kicking."

Oh geez! That was the first I had heard of any unacceptable behavior. I mean, slapping...really?

So over the weekend I wrote up a long list of the discipline tactics we use at home, because I really, really don't let him push or hit without correcting him in some way (the wrestling is out of my hands... he and daddy have wrestled since Noah was born). I sent the note with David on Monday in the hopes that Miss Tracie use some of our standard techniques to correct the problem.

Monday's report confirms that, so far, it's not helping: "He was doing a lot more pushing and some hitting with toys. He used the soft climbing toys as punching bags a little more and actually said 'bop' as he did it. I was using that as a nice word last week as he was using them to hit people with."

Hmm... what to think about all this? As I look at Noah, I think of some of his favorite "boy" things to do:

1. Wrestle with Daddy and his cousins (and anyone else who will get down on the ground with him)
2. Use his "bop" bag at home—an inflatable Spiderman punching bag his cousin got him for Christmas (since put away since he got "outed" by the sitter)
   
3. "Hammer" anything—any object in our house is a hammer, and he hammers it everywhere I allow him (although never on people)

He is a boy, through and through, and he's bigger than other kids his age (including the sitter's son, Jalen, who is just over 2). Though I certainly don't want my sweet little boy to turn into the daycare bully, I also don't want to stop him from things that are harmless when monitored properly and encouraged in the right ways (for instance, I tell Noah to hammer on the floor or on soft surfaces).

So I'm asking you other mommies & daddies out there who have gone through this: what to do?