[I probably won't be in the habit of posting more than once a day, but this begs for an entry.]
Took Cole (1) to the playground this afternoon and we quickly found a feature on the equipment we hadn't seen before...frankly, he probably was too young then and is climbing a lot more now. Up some stairs at the top of the sliding board, one of the side walls is made of chime bars you can shake to make noise.
At first, we were alone. Then an older boy--I'm guessing around 3 or 4--came running up saying, "you've got to share" and shoved Cole out of the way. Cole's used to that somewhat. He has a friend who is quite an aggressive baby and likes to hit and be fairly physical. And Cole's usual reaction to that is a quizzical expression on his face like, "what's up with this kid?" He doesn't hit back but takes it without crying.
True to form, Cole stopped playing with the chimes today but just sat there wondering what was going on. The bigger kid kept shaking his finger at Cole saying, "never ever!" and, "this is my train!"
Aside from wondering where his mom/nanny was and nearly saying that my kid is much smaller so he needs to be gentle and give him time to move, my chief concerns were that Cole not fall and that he get a chance again.
No need for dad.
Cole watched him for a couple minutes then decided to jump back into the action. Judging by the bigger kid's reaction to this, I think he probably has some issues with emotions/attention because you could tell he was on the edge of a fit. But luckily, his mom called him over to a picnic blanket for some juice and a break. So Cole had the chimes to himself again.
But finding that line of letting kids work out their own problems and stepping in to parent someone else's child is tricky. Especially with an age gap. I hope Cole learns quickly with his sister that she will be small, need help, and his first instinct can't be "me first."