People are NOT for eating

From first zoo visit 2010

Doesn't this face look sweet and innocent to you?

It does to me. He truly is one of the sweetest little boys I know, always ready with a hug for just about anyone. Innocent, it turns out, he is not.

I signed my first "incident report" for that sweet little man last week. And my second — the same day.

Turns out, he wanted to sit on a couch his little friend was already using. When she wouldn't get off, he gave her a solid pinch. Of course, he was busted, as referenced in write-up number 1. He was taken away from the situation, which caused a royal temper tantrum. A poor, sweet unexpecting little girl came up to investigate, and received a bite for her trouble. Write-up number 2, a mere five minutes after the first.

Everyone has bad days, and for toddlers, it's harder to contain your ill-will towards someone who has the couch you desperately need. But for the rest of the week, I was a little scared to pick him up at school. I immediately started wondering how many more he could get before he was kicked out. Of course, there have been no further incidents, and he is acting like a happy little guy again. Most kids take it out on each other at least once in awhile. The poor kid- one biting incident, and I've mapped out his life of time in the principal's office. I've stopped short of saving for future bail money.

It's a new week now, and my mind is no longer running wild. I'm confident this isn't the beginning of the end, but rather a really bad day.

I know he's my second child. I should be a bit more laid-back about these type of issues, right? Well, with Anne Marie, the biggest complaint about tempers from a daycare teacher has been that she was a little weepy for a day. She isn't the type to show uncontrolled anger. Her temper tantrums seem to be choreographed affairs. She is a social butterfly who spends a good portion of her day in a pretend world. Honestly, in all ways, I have never met two kids who were so different.

So, has anyone else had a biter? What did you do?