I really don’t want to make a big deal out of this because I’m fairly confident it’s just a stage, not a pleasant one, which my daughter is going through. In no way is she a bully. She doesn’t pull hair, smack, pinch or bite. For the most part she is a happy friendly pleasant little girl but lately she’s taken to pushing over smaller children, in the same manner as the penguins. On the weekend she did this to a friend’s little boy. Unfortunately, he went head first into a picnic bench. The mother was brilliant about it but I was horrified.
She is absolutely fine with children the same age or bigger but when it comes to the smaller ones they tend to end up on their bottoms. It’s very embarrassing, I tend to remove her from the situation, give her a time-out, apologize to the parents and I’ve also tried making a big fuss out of the ‘victim’. I now find myself getting a ‘bit’ anxious when she is in reaching distance and hover a bit more than normal. I’m normally quite a laid back parent.
Please tell me this is a stage and what can I do?