The Tasty Tot

OUCH!! Boo Boo Mama!

Is there something I'm doing wrong here as a mother? Is there some cosmic secret of parenting that somehow prevents your child from being bitten? We go to the same park every day, play with the same kids every day, see the same slides, the same swings, the same sand, every day. Yet, my kid is the one who seems to incite biting in the other children.
P.S. I know the pictures aren't great; but, you try to take a picture of a squirmy toddler's arm without putting it in a vice. I tried that, but it left worse marks than the bite.

I keep racking my brain and trying to pretend that he's not my sweet, innocent boy to see it from another angle. Maybe he's mean. Maybe he's a shovel stealer, a sand-in-the-eye-thrower, a shover, a kicks-in-the-shins-kid. But, he's really not. Sure, he has his moments. But, what 19-month old kid doesn't? On the whole though, he's pretty mellow and easy going.

So, why did he get bitten again today? At least this time, it wasn't by Damien. Which on one hand is comforting, but the other is slightly alarming. That means he's found to be tasty by yet another child. This one is one who's never bitten anyone, ever. So, Collin is turning them, slowly to the dark side with his delicious morsel-ness appearance.

His mama was awesome though. The biter apologized and was whisked home in tears, kicking and screaming for not being allowed to play anymore. But, he didn't play nice with his friends, and she followed through with his punishment, so hooray. I got some snuggle hugs and saw some big tears that broke my heart. Grace was terrified by the incident, as she is by seeing Damien these days. The mere sight of him sends her into hysterics akin to seeing a Disney Princess hanging in effigy from the swing set.

The weird thing about these bites is that these kids never seem to be having any kind of disagreement before they happen. They are just hanging out, playing and BAM Collin is screaming and scarred for life. Okay, not scarred for life, just bumped a bit. But, it's totally unexpected and seemingly unpreventable. I'm not about to hover over him and shoo away kids like flies off dog doo. I want him to be free to explore and socialize with kids, learn the rules and ropes of friendship, supervising but not interfering unless I have to. But, it's kind of hard to sit a few feet away, when he keeps getting chunks of flesh ripped of like this!

So, I send this plea to toddlers everywhere who see my boy: stop biting him. I don't know what the deal is, but knock it off. He doesn't like it. I don't like it. We don't get it. He doesn't taste like whatever you think he tastes like and we don't really think it's so much fun. Thanks!

He seems to be okay now though.....Mama is still a little shaken; but, she's a wuss about her baby getting hurt. I'd better get over that, huh? Everyone is still telling us he's going to be a football player and they get hurt a lot. I think that's just their nice way of saying that he's fat. If he were underweight, would we be told he was going to be a figure skater?