The Many Faces of Nate: Enforcer, Protector, Bruiser

It’s always interesting to hear about how other people view your child. Last weekend we attended a birthday party for one of Nate’s classmates, Taylor, at his home, along with a few of the other kids from school and their parents. They had a bunch of larger outdoor toys set up, including the Little Tykes Roller Coaster. Nate was smitten with the roller coaster, and wanted to use it again and again and again. The good news was that he did a fairly good job of sharing with the other children — in fact, he would set up the coaster and take Bryce by the hand and encourage him to climb on (and then push the coaster down the hill once he had climbed on). The parents of the other kids in Nate’s class kept commenting about what a renegade they viewed Nate to be. They kept saying things about how fearless he is, how he is always banged up and bruised and just bounces right back up when he falls. I was a little surprised to hear this, not because it isn’t true, but because it just seems odd fto me that a two year old wouldn’t be that resilient. But I know they aren’t all that way — several are shy, and slow to warm to strangers. Not Nate, he just gets right out there. All of the classmates who were at the party happen to be only children, and that may be part of it for Nate, being the second child with perhaps less worried parents.

But at the same time, Nate is a leader in his class in many ways. His teachers told me last week that at nap time, he refuses to lay down until he has assured himself that all of the other kids are laying down. He goes around and pats them on the back, sometimes sternly tells them “lay down!” When he walks in to the class, the kids flock to him. Taylor, especially, seems to look up to him — his Mom mentioned at the party that Taylor refuses to wear blue sneakers because blue sneakers are Nate Sneakers and apparently only Nate is allowed the honor of wearing azul foot covers. So she finally gave up and bought him white ones rather than fighting with him.

And, I am most proud of the fact that he takes a protector role. There is a sweet little boy in Nate’s class that is developmentally behind — he doesn’t walk yet without assistance, and doesn’t really talk, either. Nate has assumed the role of this kid’s body guard — he will tell the other kids “No, No!” if they get too close to this friend, and he likes to sit next to him at meals to help him eat. He also has a special relationship with the smallest, shyest girl in his class. He keeps a special watch on her that she doesn’t get trampled, and is the first to comfort if she cries at all, hugging her and patting her and saying “don’t cry, it’s ok.” They tell me he just can’t stand to see her cry.

Next week, Nate moves up to a new classroom. that little girl is moving up, too, and his current teachers have told him it is his job to look out for her in their new class. I have no doubt he will!