Just a Smidge Territorial

On Thursday, we had friends come to stay with us for the night. They were traveling and we happened to be right in the middle of their route so they made a pit stop with us. Their family boasts five children so getting to stop for the night made things a little easier for them. And we were absolutely pumped about getting to see them again.

The Rugrat is pretty quiet with other children for the most part. But, she usually doesn't have them in her home. At church, she sits at the table or plays the teacher's pet. She is always excited when we are around other children in other places, avidly watching them.

The only place I've ever seen her act a little pushy was when we visited with one of the families we traveled to China with (while in South Carolina). Even then, I wasn't sure if she was being pushy or if she was just an older child (by almost two years) getting her way.

But, well, she's definitely aggressive. She had no issue with snatching or grabbing things away from the other children. And it didn't bother her too much to push or hit them either -- even the ones who were quite a bit bigger.

I knew she was territorial already. She has attempted to stake her claim on me since we got her home. Hubby has had to assert his previous claim several times when she tries to pry our hands apart or shove herself in between us on the sofa. She has even gone so far as to start to cry when he hugs or kisses me.

Poor Rocky takes any opportunity he gets to sit in my lap when she isn't around. Something he used to take for granted initially got him pushed off or slapped at. While she's learned that isn't acceptable, she still tries to sneak in a reprimand ("Doggy, no no. Go. Go.") or nudge him off before I tell her it isn't okay. Once, I turned him over and held him baby-like causing her to break down into weeping and wailing. Her response is a little better now.

But she is territorial and, now that we know she'll get aggressive too, we'll need to begin addressing that. The problem is that in order to do that I might have to subject other children to her. Whoops. That seems like a bad plan.

The good news is that she did seem to be getting it by Friday. At least, I thought so and then she'd do something else. I really didn't have this problem with Chick (who was always compassionate towards the underdog). Dude did deal with this to some degree but it was usually in context of defending his friends so we had to discuss how to defend them appropriately.

Bullying, though, which is where I can see this headed, is not gonna happen. Period. So it looks like sharing is going to be the emphasis for the next few months (along with getting potty training down) as well as a few lessons about not hitting or kicking.

I suppose this is part and parcel for a child who lived with several other children. Most large families I know of have to deal with it to some degree. So it shouldn't surprise me.

Dealing with it may be more difficult though since everyone around her is essentially adult-sized. Poor Rocky may have to be the guinea pig some more. Guess I better stock up some dog treats -- the good stuff.