Dear Mouthy Housewives,
Recently, my 4-year-old son was at a party when one of the kids got in his face and told my son he would shoot him in the face and kick his head off his body!! Needless to say my son came to me immediately sobbing. I comforted him and told him not to listen to the other little boy but later that night, he woke up with nightmares about it.
Now I'm angry and not quite sure what to do about it. The little offender's mom is not a friend of mine but we do share a lot of friends in common and they live close by so we will have to see them.
Frankly, I want to tell my son to punch that little brat in the face if it ever happens again but I know that's not the mature, correct response. Also the parents are extremely uninvolved as parents so I'm not sure talking to them would do any good. Not to mention they believe their child is a genius and an angel while I'm pretty sure he's more Charles Manson.
Signed,
Can I Punch the Mom?
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Dear Can I Punch the Mom,
You could set up a makeshift boxing ring and invite the other mom over to duke it out but I'm sure you are a whole lot prettier without two black eyes and facial swelling. So let's keep this non-violent and avoid a neighborhood fight club. (Although if you do go that route, I wouldn't mind a heads up because life in the suburbs can get a trifle boring and this would really jazz up one of my afternoons.)
If you are this upset, I think you do have to talk to the parents. It would have been ideal if you had discussed the incident at the time but it's not too late. Give the boy's mom a call or send her an email. Explain that there was a "situation" between the two kids. Try not to sound accusatory but tell her exactly what her son said. Explain that your son is upset and it would be nice to clear the air between the two boys since they see each other from time to time.
It's very possible that she might get offended. This is her angel/genius/future President of the United States after all. And you have to be prepared for that. But hopefully, she'll understand and might be able to pull an "I'm sorry" out of the boy so that your son can sleep at night.
Unless this boy shows more violent behavior, I would not make too much out of this. It sounds like this kid is mimicking a video game or maybe copying an older brother. Boys love to pretend to shoot things and destroy things and I don't think it necessarily means he's Charles Manson's long lost son.
Let your son know that sometimes people say scary things and that he is perfectly safe.
Good luck,
Kelcey, TMH