Adoptive Mummy

I have always been relieved that Girl seems to contain her anger and impulses to her home environment but this evening I witnessed her bullying some other children at a soft-play party, forcefully and deliberately elbowing one little girl because she wanted a go on something Girl was hogging for herself and had actually finished with when the girl got on for her turn. The little girl had done nothing to provoke the attack and I was a little taken aback. I pulled Girl out immediately and gave her a ticking off. I still can’t decide whether she looked remorseful or just plain cheesed off that I had seen her do it.

I have never seen Girl do anything like this before but then we don’t often get the opportunity to watch her play properly with other children, though I have noticed that in the playground she soon takes the lead. I know that kids tussle and argue but it does worry me with Girl because I know that at some point she is not going to not contain herself or somebody is going to hit her back and she will not have the self-control to fight her impulses. I worry that with her control issues that she could easily turn into the class bully and our PASW has warned us that we might experience this once she settles into school. I do wonder whether we are going into another stage of her development, where she feels safe enough with her peers to show her true colours. I shall be keeping a close eye on this.