Jaws of Victory

This month has been a rough one. Not only did we all get the flu again, but that meant that we were housebound once more. All this togetherness indoors has driven the kids to sharp toothed madness.

Recently biting has become Justin's main means of resolving conflicts ranging from toy theft to seat assignments. The kids frequently wrestle playfully, but occasionally Justin gets excited and bites without provocation. Both instances not only physically hurt, but seem to hurt Norah's feelings. It almost always results in tears, a pronounced frown and a vigorous scolding, or occasionally retaliation. Last week saw so much arm chomping that both kids looked like victims of abuse.

We tried timeouts, removal of privileges, and explained that biting hurts, but to no avail. We refused to fight violence with violence and promote the notion that whoever can hurt the other most forcefully wins, but our patience was wearing thin. One night I saw Justin bite Norah without provocation and I acted quickly, set him in timeout, and informed him he was getting 2 minutes in the penalty box for biting.

He cried, frustrated by being punished, but didn't really pay attention to what I was saying. I turned his chin to face me and explained that biting hurt Norah which wasn't nice, as evidenced by her crying. I wasn't getting through to him, so I gently took his arm pulled it to my mouth and calmly told him, "Biting hurts, it's not nice. This is how you make Norah feel when you bite her."

I didn't really bite him, but applied enough pressure that he could feel it. He was completely caught by surprise and gave me a look that said, "Daddy! I can't believe you just bit me!" He raised his arm up slightly and looked between his arm, to me, and back several times, then rubbed his arm. I reiterated that biting wasn't nice and ordered him to apologize to Norah and "hug it out."

Since that evening, neither Heather nor I have seen the recently all too familiar flash of teeth.