Is my 2 year old being a sissy?

Question

He really is not a sissy but.... here's the deal. My son is 2, 3 in November- when he is around his cousins he is tough and stands up for himself. But when we took him to the park a little boy pushed him down- my son did nothing he just walked away and played by himself. Also, we went to a birthday party last weekend for a 2 yr old and that little boy was wrestling with him and he just started crying and hollering for me. My son wrestles with his daddy all the time and punches him and play fights but when another kid does it my son acts a little sissyish. I don't want him to be a bully but I do want him to stand up for himself- how do I meet a happy balance with out turning him into a tyrannt?

Answer 1

Oh God, How can some people be top contributors and give such ridiculous answers!

Hi,

I know exactly how you feel. My 3 year old (4 in October) used to react exactly like that and I remember worrying as well cause i wanted him to be able to defend himself. Also my son was 9lb 4 oz at birth, which means that he was always bigger than the average kids his age, but yet, if another child would push him, or be mean to him he would cry, or just walk away. And the same way, he would wrestle with his dad or his older cousins.

I came to the conclusion that the reason why he was doing that was because my child had no association in his family environment with violence (real physical agression). We don't spank, he's not around people who fight, he's not allowed to see violence on the t.v., etc...

So, when another child was agressive to him, it was a choque, cause he wasn't used to it, so he would cry and get upset, or just walk away.

And that's a good thing!

That starts to change when they go to playschool and school. You should see my son now!  Life (in the form of other children) will teach your child how to defend himself.

That's one of the things that mommys can't teach. You just keep loving him, cause that's the most important thing for a child to develop self confidence, the rest will come with life...

Good Luck!

Answer 2

How about you accept your child as he is and stop labeling him as something? The fact that you feel this way about him will show in more ways than you know and it will affect him and his self-esteem. You might find some parenting classes useful.