Today we joined my friend, Laura, and her little boy, Grant, for a Move With Me class that another friend of mine puts on. She reads books to the kids and helps direct activities and dancing and such. It's a lot of fun.
As we were about to leave, we had our backs turned away from Grant and turned to find him being hit several times by a kid who was at least a year older than him (and the kid was hitting pretty hard too). We have no idea how the conflict started. Unfortunately, the "hitting kid's" mom wasn't around and there was really no witnesses. My guess is that Grant must have done something to provoke the "hitting kid," though I can't imagine he didn't anything too hit-worthy - he's only just barely 2. My guess is that he may have tried to take a piece of paper from him or something.
But it was Grant's reaction to the situation that really struck me. As the hitting boy continued to hit Grant, Grant DID NOT hit back. Instead, he just started saying "No hit, no hit" over and over. I thought, what a good lesson to me. I think I am one of those people who hit back - maybe not so much with actions, but with words. If someone says something rude to me, my first impulse is to be rude back. Instead, maybe I should take a cue from Grant and just say "Don't be rude to me" or just ask the person to stop doing whatever it is that is hurting me. I don't need to focus on hurting someone who has hurt me. We need more tenderhearted people in the world today - now more than ever. I was so touched by little Grant and his true tenderness in the face of cruelty.
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